Analytics, Financial Services, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Wages

Meanwhile, 46% of respondents in the survey said their wages remained unchanged, for 5% of respondents, wages did not change but they received some other new perks, and 29% reported wage cuts in 2017.

According to information on the first nine months of 2017, available at the Central Statistics Bureau’s (CSB) database, the average monthly wage in Latvia climbed 6.7% against the same period in 2016.

Latvia’s economic growth has been accelerating and the labor market has been showing high activity. The Finance Ministry has projected unemployment to drop to 8.9% in 2017 and 8.2% in 2018. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Riga fell to 4.2% already in November, which means that there was full employment in the capital city.

However, the labor market’s reaction to developments in the economy is slightly delayed and employers are planning pay raises quite cautiously, WorkingDay Latvia commented. The steepest increases can be expected in segments where labor shortage is especially severe, like ICT, construction, wood processing and mechanical engineering.