Wages in Malta increased by an average of 3.4% in the first quarter of the year, surpassing the EU average of 2.4%, the government said today, quoting Eurostat figures. This was the third consecutive quarter where the average increase in salaries topped 3%.

“During the last nine months the average wage in Malta increased by 3.5%, ten times the increase in inflation. This rubbishes the Opposition’s claims that people are feeling a strain on their wages and that they are ending up with less money in their pockets.”

The highest increase in pay was registered in industry, where salaries rose by an average of 5.7%, more than doube the EU average. The increase in the services sector was 2.1% and in other other sectors it was as high as 4.7%

Another Eurostat press release showed that Malta had the second highers increase in job offers in the EU during the first quarter of the year. Maltese employers have vacancies equivalent to 2.5% of all jobs.