OECD worries stagnation of low wages



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In its report on the 2018 employment outlook, the organization points out that the employment rate has returned to its pre-crisis level. But she is worried about the anemia of income from work.

 The business district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in February 2017.

This is one of the paradoxes of the economic recovery: behind the encouraging figures of growth lies a complex reality, sometimes painful, fueling the frustration of many Europeans. This is particularly the case in the labor market. In its "Employment Outlook 2018" published Wednesday, July 4, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sums it up as follows: "the upturn seen on the front employment is overshadowed by unprecedented wage stagnation. "

On the good news side, the report points out that in the 35 member countries of the organization, more people now have jobs than before the crisis. The unemployment rate is near or below its 2008 level. And the employment rate, which reflects a country's ability to use its workforce, is higher than it was ten years ago. was 61.7% on average at the end of 2017, compared to 60.8% at the end of 2017.

Despite this, wages are stagnating. In the fourth quarter of 2017, nominal wage growth (excluding inflation) was 3.2%. Ten years earlier, while the unemployment rate in the OECD was at the same level as today (5.5%), it was 5.8%. More worrying: not all employees are in the same boat. In fact, the earnings of the highest-paid 1% increase much faster than those of low-paid people, accentuating the existing inequalities in the labor market. Similarly, wages of full-time workers increase faster than part-time workers.

"If countries fail to break this trend, public confidence in the economic recovery will be compromised ", warns the OECD. It has already cracked in many states. Following the example of Italy, where the ruling alliance between the populists and the extreme right intends to go back on the flexibility of the work put in place …

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