The OECD says that real wages are growing in most member countries as company profits lose ground and employment growth decelerates.
A policy paper released today said real wages were growing in virtually all OECD countries but remained below the levels seen in early 2021.
This was largely because the post-pandemic inflation surge had wiped the value of wage increases in many countries.
In quarter three of 2024-25, annual real wage growth was positive in 31 of the 34 OECD countries analysed, with an average growth of 3.4 percent.
Real wages remained below their 2021 level in 22 of the 34 countries.
“The real statutory (centrally set) minimum wage was higher in January 2025 than in January 2021 in virtually all of the 30 OECD countries with a national minimum wage,” the paper said.
“The increase in the average real minimum wage across these 30 countries was 8.8 percent while that of the median real minimum wage, unaffected by particularly large increases in some countries, was 5.5 percent.”
As real wages recovered, company profits continued to lose the ground gained during the post-pandemic inflation surge.
Labour markets remained resilient with record high employment and historically low unemployment.
“However, there might be signs of a slowdown, as employment growth continues to decelerate, and the OECD unemployment rate has risen slightly over the past year,” the paper said.
“In addition, labour markets have continued to ease, and labour market tightness has now returned to pre-COVID-19 levels in many countries.”
The full report is on the OECD website.
