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Australia's Annual Wage Growth Picks up in July After Seven Consecutive Months of Flat Readings, CBA Says

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Australia's annual wage growth increased to 3.2% in July, up from 3.1% in June, with employment increasing by around 21,000 jobs, where it had remained for seven consecutive months, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) said in a Friday report.

Western Australia recorded the strongest annual wage growth at 3.6%, while Victoria was the weakest at 2.9%.

Wage growth is tracking below expectations so far, per the report. The bank's measure of compensation of employees, a proxy that measures the total wage bill including bonuses and changing jobs or hours, compared with the wage tracker that focuses on wage inflation, was steady at 5.7% in July.

"The data suggests some of the recent increase in official Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) employment figures may be overstated, meaning jobs growth could ease back in the months ahead," the lender's economist Harry Ottley said.

Quarterly wage growth in Australia was unchanged at 0.8% over the three months to July.

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