Jobs
Inflation Has Sent German Pay Back to 2016 Levels, Study Shows
Commuters outside Frankfurt Central Station in Frankfurt, Germany.
Photographer: Ben Kilb/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Soaring prices over recent years have pushed inflation-adjusted German wages back to levels last seen in 2016 — boosting arguments for significant pay increases, according to a study whose results could worry the European Central Bank.
“To compensate for the massive real wage losses of the two previous years, strong real wage increases are necessary in the coming wage rounds,” said Thorsten Schulten, a researcher at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, which has ties to the Confederation of German Trade Unions and whose Institute of Economic and Social Sciences, known as WSI, conducted the analysis.