Wages increased by 0.8% from the previous quarter
Wages increased by 0.8% on average between the 4th quarter of 2008 and the 1st quarter of 2009 according to the quarterly wage index. During the same period wages in the private sector increased by 0.3% and by 1.8% in the public sector. Wages increased by 6.2% from the previous year, 4.1% in the private sector and 11.3% in the public sector.
Manager’s wages decreased by 1.4% from previous year
Wages for Clerks increased by 2.4% from the previous quarter, while wages for Managers decreased by 1.7%. From the previous year wages for Managers decreased by 1.4% while wages for General workers increased by 8.8% in the same period.
Wages in Financial intermediation decreased from the previous year
From the previous quarter, wages increased by 1.1% in the economic activity of Manufacturing. Wages in Construction decreased by 1.1% in the same period. From the previous year wages in Manufacturing increased by 6.2%, while wages in Financial intermediation decreased by 0.1%.
| Change in the wage index for the private and the public sector 2006-2009 | ||||||||
| Total | Private sector | Public sectorPrivate sector | ||||||
| Change | Change | Change | ||||||
| from | Change | from | Change | from | Change | |||
| previous | from | previous | from | previous | from | |||
| quarter, | previous | quarter, | previous | quarter, | previous | |||
| % | year, % | % | year, % | % | year, % | |||
| 2006 | ||||||||
| 1st quarter | 4.2 | 9.7 | 4.1 | 9.3 | 4.5 | 10.6 | ||
| 2nd quarter | 1.7 | 9.4 | 1.4 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 10.6 | ||
| 3rd quarter | 3.0 | 11.0 | 3.6 | 11.4 | 1.7 | 10.1 | ||
| 4th quarter | 1.8 | 11.2 | 1.9 | 11.5 | 1.4 | 10.3 | ||
| Average | . | 10.3 | . | 10.3 | . | 10.4 | ||
| 2007 | ||||||||
| 1st quarter | 4.1 | 11.0 | 4.2 | 11.7 | 3.7 | 9.5 | ||
| 2nd quarter | 1.4 | 10.6 | 1.5 | 11.7 | 1.1 | 8.1 | ||
| 3rd quarter | 1.3 | 8.8 | 1.5 | 9.4 | 1.0 | 7.4 | ||
| 4th quarter | 1.5 | 8.4 | 1.8 | 9.2 | 0.8 | 6.7 | ||
| Average | . | 9.7 | . | 10.4 | . | 7.9 | ||
| 2008 | ||||||||
| 1st quarter | 2.8 | 7.1 | 2.6 | 7.5 | 3.1 | 6.1 | ||
| 2nd quarter | 2.6 | 8.5 | 3.1 | 9.2 | 1.6 | 6.7 | ||
| 3rd quarter | 2.2 | 9.4 | 1.1 | 8.9 | 4.8 | 10.7 | ||
| 4th quarter | 0.4 | 8.3 | -0.5 | 6.4 | 2.7 | 12.7 | ||
| Average | . | 8.3 | . | 8.0 | . | 9.0 | ||
| 2009 | ||||||||
| 1st quarter | 0.8 | 6.2 | 0.3 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 11.3 | ||
Collective agreements
According to an agreement between the Association of Local Authorities and the Association of Teachers in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools, wages increased by 2.5% from 1 January 2009.
A decision of the Senior Civil Servant Salary Board from 23 February 2009 stipulated a decrease in wages of public officials by 5-15% from 1 March 2009. An earlier decision stipulated a wage decrease by 7.5% for members of the Icelandic parliament and 14-15% for cabinet ministers.
According to an agreement between the Confederation of Icelandic Employers (SA) and the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (on behalf of its member unions), monthly wages were supposed to increase by a fixed amount of 13,500 ISK from 1 March 2009. Despite a more recent agreement between the signatories, stating a suspension of all wage increases, the wage increase came into effect in some occurrences.
The wage index in the 1st quarter of 2009 also reflects the effects of a collective agreement between signatories at the local government level in December 2008 and an agreement between the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and the Confederation of Icelandic Bank and Finance Employees which was signed 5 December 2008.
Wage index rebase
The wage index in the 1st quarter of 2009 is based on a new base. The rebasing of the wage index is based on The Icelandic survey on wages, earnings and labour costs (ISWEL) and administrative registers. Normally the index weights are based on data from the previous year. Due to the changes in the Icelandic economy the rebasing is now also based on data from the first quarter of 2009.