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Productivity in the private sector has now increased for seven successive quarters, ABS national accounts data revealed today.

Growth in rates of pay excluding bonuses are now firmly below 2% for the first time since the ABS began compiling the Wage Price Index nearly 20 years ago.

A leading economist has warned Australia is in a "self-fulfilling cycle" of low productivity and wages growth after today's CPI figures showed year-on-year inflation almost flatlining at just 1%.

Productivity, hours worked and real unit labour costs increased markedly in the year to March, while the wages share of the economy increased to a 12-year high, according to ABS national accounts data released today.

Annual growth in rates of pay excluding bonuses in the private sector has dropped to a new record low of just 1.9% in trend terms, according to the ABS.

The 2% rise in private sector rates of pay last year is the lowest in the almost 20 years of the Wage Price Index, according to the ABS.

Productivity and real unit labour costs are on the rise in the market sector, according to ABS data released today.

The federal government is seeking to break a bargaining impasse in the federal public sector by increasing its wages cap to 2% a year.

Hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses in the private sector are increasing at a record low of 2.2% a year in trend terms, according to the ABS Wage Price Index, released today.

Real unit labour costs fell substantially in the March quarter, according to national accounts data released by the ABS today.