Consumer prices hardly increased in MV: wages are also stagnating

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Schwerin (dpa / mv) - For many employees in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Corona year 2020 was financially a zero-sum game.

This is based on data from the State Statistical Office.

Consumer prices rose in the first eleven months by only 0.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Should they fall by 0.8 percent in December, as in November, compared to the same month last year, the price increase over the year would be 0.14 percent.

That is significantly less than in the two previous years 2018 and 2019, when it was around 1.6 percent in each case.

The gross monthly earnings paid by employers in MV also stagnated: In the second quarter - these are the latest available data from statisticians - they were only 0.1 percent above the previous year's figure.

One reason for the practical standstill on the wage front is the sharp increase in short-time working as a result of the first Corona shutdown in spring.

As a wage replacement benefit, short-time work benefits are not included in the statistics - those affected are likely to have had a little more money in their pockets.

In autumn, when restaurants and leisure facilities had to close again, the number of advertisements for short-time working increased again sharply.

A large part of the retail trade in Germany has been closed again since December 16.

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The wage losses in the hospitality industry - excluding short-time allowance - amounted to 17 percent in the second quarter.

In public administration, on the other hand, which managed largely without short-time working, salaries were 2.4 percent above the previous year's level, in health and social services it was even 4.8 percent.

Even retirees could afford more in view of the low inflation: pensions in eastern Germany rose by 4.2 percent on July 1, 2020.

Thanks to the low oil price, which is noticeable at the petrol station, and the reduction in VAT in the second half of the year, the rate of inflation in MV has been negative since July.

So people have to spend less money on a living than they did a year before.

In November, the strongest minus value to date (minus 0.8 percent) was reached.

For December, the responsible head of department at the State Statistical Office, Thomas Hilgemann, expects the price trend to decline again.

In the new year, the VAT, which was lowered in mid-2020, will be raised again from 5 to 7 or from 16 to 19 percent.

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Earnings in the 2nd quarter of 2020 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Consumer prices in MV until November 2020