Wages in Greece continued falling in the second quarter of the year, recent reports show. Greece has now become one of just three EU member-states to record a decline in wages in both the first and second quarters of 2014. In Greece, the wages index fell by 1.4% in the second quarter of 2014. During the corresponding period last year, wages decreased by 7.4%. Seasonally-adjusted, the wage index fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2014, after a 9.1% decline recorded in the second quarter of 2013. With the exception of seasonal worker wages, Greek wages have been falling continuously for four years now: by an average rate of 5.05% in 2011, 7.4% in 2012, 6.55% in 2013 and 1.35% in the first half of 2014. The highest wage increases were recorded in Estonia, with a 7.7% rise in the first quarter and 7.4% in the second; Latvia 7.4% and 6.9%, respectively; Slovakia, 3.5% and 6.1%; Romania, 5.3% and 5.0%; and Hungary, 3.1% and 4.9%. In Germany, wages increased by 1.3% in the first quarter and 1.6% in the second.
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