The OECD said in its 2025 Employment Outlook on Wednesday that, at the beginning of this year, real wages were in Italy were 7.5% lower than in early 2021.
    It said that Italy has seen the largest fall in real wages of all the major OECD economies.
    "The renewal of major collective agreements over the last year has led to higher-than-usual negotiated wage increases," the report said.
    "However, these fell short of fully compensating for lost purchasing power since the inflation hike.
    "Furthermore, at the start of Q1 in 2025, one in three private‑sector employees was still covered by an expired collective agreement.
    "Overall, real wage growth is expected to remain subdued over the next two years.

Nominal wages (compensation per employee) in Italy are projected to increase by 2.6% in 2025 and 2.2% in 2026.
    "While these increases are significantly lower than in most other OECD countries, they will enable Italian workers to achieve modest gains in real terms, given that inflation is expected to reach 2.2% in 2025 and 1.8% in 2026".
    The report said the Italian labour market has proven resilient in recent years but was showing early signs of slowing.
    "Despite the slowdown in economic growth since late 2022, Italy's labour market has reached record levels of employment and record lows of unemployment and inactivity," it said.
    "In May 2025, the unemployment rate in Italy increased to 6.5%, which is 0.1 percentage points lower than in May 2024 and 3.1 percentage points lower than before the start of the pandemic, although it remains above the OECD average of 4.9%.
    "Looking ahead, despite considerable uncertainty due to global trade disruptions, the unemployment rate is expected to remain stable in 2025 and 2026.
    "Total employment is projected to grow by 1.1% and 0.6% respectively during this period".

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA