graph 8 australian government bond holdings share of outstanding held by rba % jul - 22 nov - 22 apr - 23 apr - 24 nov - 24 apr - 25 nov - 25 apr - 26 sep - 26 apr - 27 nov - 27 may - 28 nov - 28 apr - 29 nov - 29 may - 30 dec - 30 jun - 31 nov - 31 may - 32 nov - 32 apr - 33 all * % * all bonds in rba ’ s purchase range. sources : aofm ; rba the most important consideration was the third one – that is, the actual and expected progress towards our goals. since november, we have made better progress than we were expecting, which is good news. the unemployment rate now stands at 4. 2 per cent and underlying inflation is at 2. 6 per cent. for the first time in some years, the achievement of our goals is within sight. in these circumstances, the board judged that now was the right time to draw the bond purchase program to a close. there are four additional points that i would like to make. the first is that our bond purchase program has played an important role in achieving this progress towards our goals, complementing our other monetary policy measures. the purchases have lowered funding costs, supported asset values and led to a lower exchange rate than would otherwise have been the case. as a result, more people have jobs and inflation is closer to the target. the second point is that the cessation of our bond purchases does not represent a tightening of monetary policy. the accumulated international evidence is that it is the stock of bonds purchased, not the flow of purchases, that provides the economic support. by mid - february, the rba will have purchased over $ 350 billion of government bonds under our various programs and our balance sheet will have more than tripled since the start of the pandemic to around $ 650 billion ( graph 9 ). these purchases and the expansion of our balance sheet are providing ongoing support to the australian economy. graph 9 rba balance sheet total assets, weekly $ b $ b source : rba the third point is that we have not yet made a decision about reinvesting the proceeds of maturing bonds. unlike many other countries, there are not maturities of government bonds in australia every week or month ( graph 10 ). the large gaps in the maturity profile mean that we have more time to make a decision. the next maturity of an australian government bond is in july 2022. [ 2 ]

; national skills commission ; rba once the labour market disruptions from omicron have dissipated, we expect some of the additional demand for labour to be met with a further rise in labour force participation. we also expect an increase in average hours worked as part - time workers wanting additional hours have more success in finding the hours they are seeking. turning now to inflation, there has also been an upside surprise ( graph 5 ). the pick - up in inflation reflects both the strength of the economic recovery and the significant disruptions on the supply side. headline inflation, in particular, has been boosted by the 32 per cent increase in petrol prices over the past year and the 7½ per cent increase in the cost of constructing new dwellings. there have also been larger price increases for a wide range of consumer durables. in the december quarter, there was also less discounting because firms faced very strong demand as most of the country emerged from lockdowns at a time when inventories were low and firms had trouble filling their shelves. graph 5 inflation % headline * % trimmed mean year - ended quarterly - 2 - 2 * year - ended series is not seasonally adjusted. sources : abs ; rba looking ahead, we expect underlying inflation to increase further over coming quarters, largely reflecting the ongoing difficulties on the supply side, including currently from omicron ( graph 6 ). as these problems are resolved, some moderation in inflation is expected. then, over time, stronger growth in labour costs is expected to become the more important driver of inflation. the central forecast is for underlying inflation to be around 2¾ per cent over both this year and next. graph 6 trimmed mean inflation year - ended % forecast % sources : abs ; rba wages growth has picked up as well, but it has only just returned to the rates prevailing prior to the pandemic ( graph 7 ). a further pick - up is expected, though there is substantial inertia in aggregate wage outcomes even if there are large wage increases in some pockets. this inertia stems from multi - year enterprise agreements, the review of award wages that takes place on an annual basis and public sector wages policies. our central forecast is for the wage price index to increase by 2¾ per cent this year and 3 per cent over 2023. broader measures of labour costs, which also matter for inflation, are expected to be growing at a faster rate than this. this reflects the increase in superannuation contributions and pay increases that