Slowdown in Euro-Area Wage Growth Vindicates ECB Doves: Chart

Employment in the euro area may have risen at the start of the year, but Eurostat data on Friday showed wage growth slowing to 1.4 percent in the first quarter. The figures will be confirmation for dovish European Central Bank officials that consumer-price growth is still dependent on monetary stimulus, according to Bert Colijn, a senior economist at ING Bank NV in Amsterdam. “ECB President Draghi has indicated that he looks to a wage-growth recovery as it will be key to a self-sustained adjustment in the inflation rate -- this could be a while to come.”