Real wages climb just 0.4% in city-state

Wage growth: People walk across Jubilee Bridge on Marina Bay in Singapore. Nearly 82% of employees received wage increases last year, compared with just under 70% in 2021 and it came as almost three in four employers gave wage increases in 2022. — AFP

SINGAPORE: Employers in Singapore hiked total wages by the most in a decade in 2022 because of the tight labour market, but high inflation slashed real pay rises to less than in the previous year.

Nominal wages, which do not account for inflation, jumped 6.5% in 2022, up from 3.9% in 2021, according to Manpower Ministry (MoM) data released on Monday.