While the federal budget on Tuesday is likely to dominate the headlines this week, there are a couple of top-shelf data releases due as well.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to drop the March quarter wage price index on Wednesday and the April labour force report on Thursday.
Wages have been growing strongly due to a tight labour market and robust public sector pay decisions, lifting 0.9 per cent in the December quarter, and 4.2 per cent for the year.
The RBA's chief economist will address the decision to keep interest rates on hold for May. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)
For March, Westpac economists had a 0.9 per cent quarterly rise pencilled in, keeping the annual pace flat at 4.2 per cent.
The April jobs data from the statistics bureau will follow March's unemployment rate ticking higher to 3.8 per cent, from 3.7 per cent in February.
Australia's labour market has proved resilient to a slowing economy, although there are signs it is softening with job vacancies increasing and the underemployment rate edging up.
The National Australia Bank business survey for April will be released on Monday, taking the pulse of the private sector.
There's also a speech expected from Reserve Bank of Australia chief economist Sarah Hunter on Thursday, which will follow the central bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent in May.
Local investors will assess modest gains on Wall Street as investors digested the Federal Reserve's comments on monetary policy and eyed upcoming inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125.08 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 39,512.84 and the S&P 500 gained 8.6 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5,222.68.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.40 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 16,340.87.
Australian share futures fell 15 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 7765.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday closed up 27.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 7,749.
The broader All Ordinaries rose 28.5 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 8,022.7.
5°C