Wages growth is starting to slow despite record low interest rates and public infrastructure spending, fuelling expectations the Reserve Bank will be forced into unconventional monetary policy to boost the economy.

As new research suggests a huge economic dividend if the federal government is able to drive down the unemployment rate to levels not seen since the 1960s, economists said wages growth was now "dismal" with little sign of any acceleration.

The jobless rate is driving wages down. Credit:Louie Douvis

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday reported the wage price index rose by 0.5 per cent in the September quarter to be 2.2 per cent up over the year. It was the slowest annual wages growth since the middle of last year.

Just one sector, the fast-growing health and aged care sector, which is benefiting from the roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and demographic pressures, is enjoying wages growth of more than 3 per cent.