Wage costs in Australia advanced a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2015, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
That was in line with expectations and up from the 0.5 percent gain in the first quarter.
In the June quarter, the largest rise of all industries was 0.8 percent in financial and insurance services. Rental, hiring and real estate services had the smallest rise of 0.1 percent.
On a yearly basis, wage costs were up 2.3 percent - unchanged and in line with forecasts.
Individually, private sector wage costs were up 0.5 percent on quarter and 2.2 percent on year, while public sector wages added 0.7 percent on quarter and 2.5 percent on year.
Rises in industry indexes through the year were between 1.7 percent for construction and professional, scientific and technical services to 2.8 percent for financial and insurance services.
Also on Wednesday, the latest survey from Westpac Bank showed that consumer confidence in Australia jumped sharply in August as its index surged a seasonally adjusted 7.8 percent to a score of 99.5.
That follows the 3.2 percent tumble in July to a reading of 92.2.
Among the individual components of the survey, the index for family finances climbed 15.5 percent, while the outlook gained 3.9 percent.
The outlook for economic conditions in general over the next year jumped 13.4 percent; over five years, it was up 5.8 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.