Workers are likely enjoying decent pay growth but a surprise uptick in wages could signal entrenched inflation and spell more interest rate hikes to counter it.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the wage price index for the December quarter on Wednesday.
The consensus is on one per cent quarterly growth and 3.5 per cent over the year, following a 3.1 per cent lift in September.
But a higher-than-expected result could put pressure on the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates further than already priced in.
NAB markets economist Taylor Nugent said the RBA was not yet worried about the rate of wages growth hampering the bank's ability to drive inflation down but it was concerned about a possible shift in wage and price-setting behaviour.
"Wages growth sustaining above four per cent is unlikely to be consistent with inflation returning to the two-three per cent target, while acceleration well beyond that level would also likely cause the RBA to question their assessment that 'wages growth remained lower here than elsewhere'," he said.
A separate measure of wage growth across small and medium-sized businesses collected by private firm Employment Hero revealed a 1.6 per cent uptick in median hourly wages over January.
The index - which captures the full amount landing in bank accounts, including bonuses and allowances - showed hourly wages climbing by 7.9 per cent in the 12 months to January.
Hourly pay rates grew the most for workers in health care and community services, lifting 3.2 per cent since December, followed by retail, hospitality and tourism wages, which observed 1.7 per cent growth.
Employment Hero chief executive officer Ben Thompson said the uptick in wages signalled the second month in a row of growth after stagnating through October and November.
"Despite harsh economic conditions, we're still in a candidate-driven market with more job postings but fewer qualified candidates," he said.
He said this could be driving up wages in industries requiring specialised skill sets such as construction and health care.
© AAP 2023