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Average wage up 2.4 pct in Q1 yr/yr, real wage 1.2 pct higher /03. 09. 2010/
Prague - Czech average wage increased by 2.4 percent or Kc542 to Kc23,513 in Q2 yr/yr, in real terms it added 1.2 percent, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said today. In the first half-year of 2010, the average wage reached Kc23,135 and was Kc521 or 2.3 percent higher compared with the same period of 2009. Real wage rose by 1.4 percent. Q2 seasonally adjusted average wage grew by 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter.
The average wage increased by Kc608 or 2.7 percent to Kc23,415 in the business sphere, with real wage rising by 1.5 percent. In the non-business sphere the average wage rose more slowly, by Kc232 or 1.0 percent to Kc23,937, real wage decreasing by 0.2 percent. The average nominal wage dropped in transportation and storage and in education, a low relative growth was recorded in accommodation and food service activities and in administrative and support service activities.
The biggest growth was recorded in mining and quarrying (+10.4 pct), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (+5.4 pct) and human health and social work activities (+4.9 pct). The highest nominal wage (in financial and insurance activities) was approximately 3.6 times higher than the lowest nominal wage (accommodation and food service activities), the CSU said.
In the Jan-June period this year, the average wage increased by Kc528 or 2.3 percent to Kc23,055 in the business sphere, the real wage adding 1.4 percent. In the non-business sphere the average wage rose by Kc468 or 2.0 percent to Kc23,482, and in real terms it was 1.1 percent higher.
Wage growth corresponds to economic revival-analysts
Today´s data on a 2.4 percent average wage growth in Q2 corresponds to a gradual revival of the Czech economy, analysts addressed by CTK said today, adding that wages will keep growing, but at a slow pace. They put full-year pay rise at between 2.5 and 3 percent, real wage to add around 1 percent this year. Q2 average wage grew by Kc542 on the year to Kc23,513 and in real terms it was 1.2 percent higher.
"We don´t expect the average wage to rise markedly in the months to come either," said Citfin analyst Tomas Volf. "Inflationary pressures are low and trade unions are fighting to keep jobs or the pay at current levels," he added. Employees demanding a pay rise are unlikely to succeed because the high jobless rate can be back above the 9-percent mark in Q3, according to Volf.
"It should be mentioned again, however, that it is an average not the most frequent pay rate," said Next Finance´s Vladimir Pikora. "The most frequent wage is several thousand (crowns) lower and around two-thirds of employees fail to get it," he added.
Overall, today´s data are positive, said Pavel Sobisek, an analyst at UniCredit Bank. Earlier major workforce cuts that affected above all low-income employees have pushed the average wage higher but the employees who remained did not get a higher pay. "If layoffs eased and the wage growth did not slow it means that the trend of the real wage hike had to be resumed, at least in some professions or branches," said Sobisek.
Raiffeisenbank´s Helena Horska said that the average wage of an employee of a private firm is very likely to rise above the average wage of an employee in the public sector during the year or early next year at the latest. The latter´s wage has so far been higher except some exceptions, said Horska.
Patria Finance chief economist David Marek estimates the full-year wage hike at between 2.5 and 3 percent. The expected global economic slowdown and the impact on the Czech economy can, however, influence the wage growth. Wages will increase by 2.5 percent this year, according to Horska. Q2 average wage in Slovakia stood at EUR758, which is 20 percent lower compared with the Czech pay (EUR952), said Pikora.
Source: Financninoviny.cz, 03.09.2010. Full article can be found here.
