Looking at the August data in more detail, the slowdown in average wage growth was mainly due to wage developments in the public sector. Here, the pace of wage growth slowed to 14.4% YoY from 17.5% YoY in the previous month. The effects of the larger wage adjustment in the public administration sector a year earlier are now being felt. So base effects are playing a role here.
In the non-profit sector, wage dynamics remained unchanged compared to the previous reading, while in the corporate sector there was only a slight slowdown. Average wages in this sector rose by 12.5% on an annual basis in August, while median wages increased at a slower pace.
Looking at individual sectors, wage growth accelerated in agriculture as seasonal work picked up but slowed in construction and manufacturing. Notably, industrial employment fell below 800,000 for the first time since April 2021, meaning that the sector continues to shed jobs and firms are eager to lay off higher-earning workers.