Recent figures from Statistics Estonia show that the average monthly gross wages increased by 4.2% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, but purchasing power remains on a downward trajectory: inflation in July 2011 reached 5.3% on a year-on-year basis. Thus real wages, or the purchasing power of wage-earners, decreased by 1% on a yearly basis, declining for the 11th quarter in succession, though nominal wage rose for the fifth consecutive quarter.
English: http://news.err.ee/economy/b6368f53-4b28-4f4d-aaa8-5233f5a90b65
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.