A pay bump for the lowest-paid workers is unlikely to throw the Reserve Bank of Australia’s inflation fight off course after landing broadly in line with economists’ expectations. Millions of workers on minimum and award wages will get a 3.75 per cent pay rise from July following the Fair Work Commission’s annual decision. Based on a new hourly rate of $24.10, full-time workers will take home an extra $33 every week. With inflation running at 3.
8 per cent by the end of 2024, the outcome supports the view that wage-sensitive services inflation should ease later this year,” Felsman wrote in a note. Unions wanted an increase of five per cent, while business groups recommended between two to three per cent. Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher said it was not an appropriate time to raise wages significantly above the inflation rate because labour productivity was stagnating.