Cyprus wages rise as unemployment soars in Q4

**Indexation pushes earnings up 3% y/y **

As the unemployment rate soared to 9.3% according to Eurostat definitions, wage indexation ensured that labour costs continued to rise for employers, with earnings increasing on average by 3% in the fourth quarter, when compared with the same period of 2010.
According to the preliminary estimates, average monthly earnings of employees during the fourth quarter of 2011 amounted to EUR 2,288 (males EUR 2,483 and females EUR 2,061).
These figures are on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Earnings are normally higher in the fourth quarter because of the payment of 13th salaries. In the third quarter, the corresponding figure was EUR 1,901.
This was 3.0% higher than the fourth quarter of 2010. The Statistical Service said that the increase mainly reflected the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) on the gross earnings of employees, which was 1.25% from January 2011 and 1.39% from July 2011.
Compared with the third quarter of 2011 (seasonally adjusted data) there was an increase of 0.7% in the average monthly earnings of employees (males 0.4% and females 1.1%).