The effects of the economic crisis distorted wage data in Hungary last year, analysts told MTI on Friday, after fresh December figures were published.
Real wages in Hungary fell 2.4pc in January-December, inching up 0.2pc in the private sector, but dropping 8.3pc in the public sector, the Central Statistics Office said in the morning.
Gergely Suppan of Magyar Takarekszovezetkezeti Bank said most of the layoffs made in the private sector because of the crisis affected lower-paid employees, increasing the weight of higher-paid staff and lifting the overall wage figure. At the same time, temporary low-paid state jobs for out-of-work Hungarians weighed on the overall public sector wage, he added.
KSH noted that the drop in public sector wages was also due to the elimination of annual bonuses in the segment as part of government austerity measures.
Mr Suppan said the 2.2pc yr/yr drop in real wages in the private sector could be explained by employers delaying annual bonus payments until January, when payroll taxes were lowered.
Erste Bank’s Orsolya Nyeste said the wage data was more or less in line with expectations. Real wages will stagnate or fall slightly in 2010, she added.