Treasurer Jim Chalmers says wages growth is progressing better than forecast, as inflation eases.

Australians are set to learn whether wages have grown in real terms over the past quarter – something that has not happened for three years.

The wage price index, to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, is expected to increase by 0.9 per cent in the June quarter.

The rise could be as high as 1.1 per cent.

This compares to the consumer price index – a measure of the cost of living – which grew by 0.8 per cent in the June quarter.

The May federal budget forecast real wages growth on an annual basis to return by early 2024.

“That’s come forward a bit, we’re actually progressing a bit better than we thought six or 12 months ago when it comes to wages growth in our economy,” Dr Chalmers told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

“We’re doing that at the same time as inflation is moderating in the economy.”

He said the source of inflation was not people earning too much.

“Inflation is coming at us from all kinds of other directions,” he said.

NAB economists said they didn’t think the wages figure would be enough to shift the thinking in the Reserve Bank away from a pause in rates to a future hike.

But they are forecasting a third quarter wage price index close to 1.5 per cent, taking in the aged care worker pay rise and other turn-of-financial-year adjustments.

Meanwhile, Dr Chalmers said he would be kickstarting a conversation about the bigger picture for the economy with the release of the Intergenerational Report next week.

“We need a new approach to boosting productivity in our economy,” he said.

“From our point of view – the energy transformation, skilling people up to adapt and adopt technology, making particularly our care economy more productive – these are our priorities.”

The report to be released on August 24 will look at the forces shaping the Australian economy over the next four decades.

– AAP