The wages agreed between workers and companies have experienced an increase of 3.34% between the months of January and July, according to the data released yesterday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, prepared from 2,885 agreements, which affect 8.9 million employees.
The percentage exceeds July’s year-on-year inflation, of 2.3% according to still provisional estimates, so that in 2023 workers are on their way to regaining purchasing power for the first time in two years.
However, it is below the general recommendation that management and unions agreed in May, of a rise of 4% in 2023 and 3% in both 2024 and 2025. It is also well below to the revaluation of pensions and the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) for this year, in both cases by 8%.
The slight recovery in purchasing power through July also comes after two bouts of soaring inflation, first from the explosive post-pandemic recovery and then from the invasion of Ukraine and its effects on commodity prices. energy and food.
In 2020, the CPI closed in the negative, with a fall of 0.5%, while the wages set in the agreements increased by 1.73%. From that moment on, the situation has been reversed: in 2021 inflation was 6.5% and the wage increase was 1.45%, while in 2022 price increases, d ‘by 5.7%, contrasted with rather lower salary improvements of 2.98%.
According to Treball’s calculations, in addition, 78% of employees have had increases of more than 2% since the beginning of the year, while for almost 2.3% the increases have been less than 1%. Between January and July, 721 collective agreements were signed and registered, the lowest number in at least five years. This is less than half of last year’s 1,515 agreements.
The Ministry of Labor also breaks down the wage increases agreed by autonomous communities. The highest figure was experienced in the Community of Murcia, at 5.5%, while the lowest was in Castilla-La Mancha, at 2.69%. In Catalonia it was 3.16%, and in Madrid, 3.22%.
In addition, there is a correlation between wage increases and jobs in the service sector hardest hit by the pandemic, which now seem to be regaining purchasing power the fastest. Wages for household employees rose by 6.3%, compared to 4% for artistic activities, 3.9% for hospitality and 3.6% for commerce.
Energy supply, real estate activities, the extractive industry and financial businesses are those that register the lowest increases, less than 2.5%.
