Wage increases were higher than inflation in April, which means that the so-called real wages are rising, according to the Mediation Institute's calculations.
The centrally agreed wages in the entire economy increased by 3.6 percent in April. However, overall, wages in Sweden are estimated to have increased by 4.2 percent in April compared to the same month last year.
If you exclude the consumer price increase excluding mortgage rates – i.e., KPIF inflation – of 2.3 percent in April, this means a boost for real wages of 1.9 percent.
"Even if you take into account that interest rates were higher than a year ago, real wages still rose by 0.3 percent in April," says Petter Hällberg, macroeconomist at the Mediation Institute.