Wages higher for Latvian workforce

From wire reports, RIGA

Although the government has announced that wages in Latvia have returned to the pre-crisis level, the actual situation is not that good, Latvian Employers Confederation's Director General Liga Mengelsone told the Nozare.lv business portal.

Many companies have laid off workers, which enabled them to raise the wages for the remaining staff who are now possibly paid more than they were before the crisis. "However, this also means that there are no job openings," explained Mengelsone.

Compared to the corresponding period in 2012, the average monthly gross wage in Latvia rose 5.1 percent in the third quarter of 2013, according to the Central Statistical Bureau's data.

The average monthly gross wage in the public sector in the third quarter of 2013 increased slightly faster than in the private sector – up 5.3 percent (from 518 lats to 546 lats). Growth in the private sector was 5 percent (from 464 lats to 487 lats), and in the general government sector – up 6.2 percent (from 470 lats to 499 lats).