Australian wage growth is stagnating around levels seen during the global financial crisis due to high unemployment and a weak economy, according to a new National Australia Bank report.

In the decade before the financial crisis, wages rose at an average level of 3 per cent per year, but this figure has languished closer to 1.5 per cent since 2012.

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The NAB quarterly business survey says soft employment conditions are to blame for suppressing wage increases, with unemployment at a decade high of 6.1 per cent.

Unemployment is predicted to rise in the coming months.