Economic data due from Australia today includes Q4 wage price index and Q4 construction work done
Both are coming up at 0030GMT
Q4 wage price index
- For the q/q change, expected is +0.6% and prior was +0.6%
- For the y/y expected is +2.5%, while the prior was +2.6% (this was a a record low for the series which dates back to Q3 of 1997)
- Previous release also showed:
- Annual pace of public sector wage growth slowed to 2.7% y/y
- Private sector wage growth quarterly average for the last year and a half is 0.61% q/q, while annual private sector wage growth is at 2.5% y/y
Q4 construction work done
- expected is -1.0%
- prior was -2.2%
- The downturn in mining investment is driving declines in private infrastructure work (3.5% fall expected in Q4 - via Westpac estimate)
More from Westpac ...
- Public works, accounting for around 17% of total construction, is also a source of weakness at present. A lift in public infrastructure work is expected to emerge in the year ahead
- Private new home building work is in the midst of a strong upswing, up 10% over the past year, albeit dipping in Q3
- Private non-residential building work is likely at a turning point, up 9% over the year, but with a sharp drop in approvals pointing to a moderation ahead.
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Tomorrow we get Q4 capex ... the construction work data is a key input. In brief (I'll have a preview tomorrow) the capex data is likely to show further declines and will be another negative input for the Australian dollar.
