Wages to fall 0.5pc in 2009: ILO

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GENEVA, Nov 26 (AFP): Wages in industrialised countries will fall 0.5 per cent next year due to the economic crisis, although on a global level, salaries will still grow by up to 1.1 per cent, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said today.
"In 2009, wages will in fact decline by 0.5 per cent in industrial countries and grow by no more than 1.1 per cent globally," said the ILO's latest Global Wage Report.
The global growth will come thanks to "emerging countries whose economies are undergoing a slowdown but which are continuing to grow," said Manuela Tomei, who is in charge of the ILO's programme on employment conditions.
But the ILO warned that it was clear that the economic slowdown would bite into real wages of most workers, with the lowest paid to be hardest hit.
"For the world's 1.5 billion wage-earners, difficult times lie ahead," said Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General.