How much of a rate rise? Just about this much.

THE Reserve Bank has produced the first public estimate of the number of times it expects to raise interest rates in the coming months.

Reserve at odds with Joyce view

RESERVE Bank governor Glenn Stevens has declared himself at odds with Coalition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce and questioned Mr Joyce's fitness for the job, telling a parliamentary committee he had "yet to meet a finance minister who has ever mused any possibility about debt default of his own country".

Australia put ahead of the pack on jobless

THE Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says Australia's unemployment rate has stabilised and will not reach either the peak of 8.5 per cent predicted in the May Budget or the lower peak of 6.75 per cent forecast in this month's mid-year budget review.

Tracking the Economy

US retail sales for October will be released today and market watchers will use the result to gauge how the US economic recovery is faring. In September, retail sales fell 1.5 per cent as the government's "cash for clunkers" car program wound down. For October, economists are expecting sales to gain 1.2 per cent, but if car and gasoline components are excluded, retail sales probably rose by just 0.3 per cent in October.

Wages Shock And Horror More Nostalgic Than Alarming

The screaming headline, "Wage rise stokes inflation fear", with which one newspaper greeted the Fair Pay Commission's minimum wage decision last week didn't disturb me so much as remind me how far we've come since the bad old days of economic mismanagement.

Wage Rise May Fuel Inflation, Industry Warns

MORE than 1 million low-paid workers have received a surprisingly large boost to their pay packets in a minimum wage decision influenced by sharp increases in the cost of fuel, housing and food.

Fall In Job Ads Shows Rates Policy Is Working

THE first signs of a slowdown in Australia's drum-tight labour market are appearing, with indications the high interest rates are certainly working.

Falling Job Ads Show Rates Are Working And Can Go On Hold

THE first signs of a slowdown in Australia's drum-tight labour market are appearing, with indications the high interest rates are certainly working.

Foreign Students Being Exploited

NEARLY 60% of international students in Victoria could be receiving below minimum wage rates, a study by Monash and Melbourne university academics has revealed.

Gender Wage Gap Under Review

THE Federal Government is considering creating a new body to tackle the long-standing gender pay gap which results in women earning less than men doing comparable jobs.

Attack Of The Digits On Eve Of Wage Review

THE Federal Government is shying away from supporting the ACTU's claim for a $26 a week increase in minimum wages despite declaring yesterday that it wanted to look after the most vulnerable workers.

Actu Stakes Its $26 Claim

The ACTU will seek a $26-a-week wage rise for 1.5 million workers, an increase higher than inflation, at a time when the Federal Government is appealing for wage restraint.

Unions Seek Quick Rise In Pay Rates

UNION leaders are resisting calls for wage restraint by saying wages need to grow, and quickly, adding to Government fears about inflation.

Gas Rig Workers Ripped Off: Union

SKILLED Filipino workers on a $1.6 billion gas project on the North-West Shelf are being paid less than $8 an hour, undercutting both local wage rates and the amounts promised in their contracts, the Australian Workers Union says.

Battlers' Pay Rise Outpaced By Inflation

WAGE rates for hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers will fail to keep up with inflation this year under the Australian Fair Pay Commission's decision yesterday to increase minimum wages by between $5.30 and $10.26 a week.

Employers Fight To Keep Youth Wage

EMPLOYERS have vowed to fight any move to abolish youth wages, warning that forcing them to pay adult rates would destroy job opportunities for young people.