Nominal wages increased almost in all countries of the Eurasian Economic Union in Jan-June 2017 as Kazakh real wages declined

    Nominal wages rose almost in all countries of the Eurasian Economic Union in Jan-June 2017, the press office of the union reported on Wednesday referring to reports of member countries’ national statistical services.
    Belarus accounted for a 9.5% year-on-year growth in Jan-June 2017 showing the best result among the union member countries, Russia accounted for 7.2%, Kyrgyzstan for 5.5%, Kazakhstan for 5.1% and Armenia for 1.3%.
    The average nominal monthly salary in Russia was equal to $666 in the first half of this year, in Kazakhstan to $455, in Belarus to $ 405, in Armenia to $378 and in Kyrgyzstan to $209.
    The real salary, with taking into account consumer prices for goods and services, rose 2.3% in Belarus, 3% in Kyrgyzstan (Jan-May) and 2.7% in Russia, while in Kazakhstan it reduced by 2.4% and in Armenia it remained unchanged, compared with the same period a year earlier.
    The calculations were based on the national central banks’ foreign exchange rates of their national currencies to the US dollar.
    But the decline in Kazakh citizens' real wages has accelerated in Q2 2017 as the purchasing power of the wage earners has dropped 2.9 percent against the last year level, according to Ranking.kz.
    Recall that the annual decline in the value of wages in Kazakhstan was 2pct in January-March this year.
    At the same time, the average monthly nominal wages of the Kazakh residents grew 4.4pct, however, the basic consumer goods and services price rise turned out to be higher, and the real value of the wage and salary income in the country happened to be lower.
    The national wage labor market is trying to get back, however, the growth rates are rather weak.
    The actual number of employees in Kazakhstan in January-June this year equaled 3.5 million people. This is only 1.5pct more than the number a year ago.
    It is noteworthy that the labour market size showed a steep decline last year, when the average annual decrease was 5.4%. Over the last 5 years, the maximum number of employees in the country, 3.6 million people, was recorded in 2015.
    In Q2 2017, the growth in real wages was registered in two regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in Aktobe (1.3pct) and Mangystau regions (0.8pct).
    In addition to the above, the residents of Atyrau region experienced the greatest decline in the purchasing power in April-June. There, the real wages fell 13.3% as compared to Q2 2016.
    In Astana, the salaries of workers began to value 0.1 percent lower, taking into account the inflation. In Almaty, the real wages dropped more considerably, minus 5.2% year on year.
    Since this year, the Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship Development Programme has started in Kazakhstan.
    The programme’s timeline is until 2021. After its completion, it is expected that the unemployment rate in Kazakhstan will not exceed 4.8pct; the share of human resources having basic, secondary, general and primary education in the labor force will not exceed 20pct; the share of non-productive population among the self-employed will not exceed 10%.
    Reported by Arka (Armenia), Kazinform.