Page 44 - RusRPTMar19

4.5 Labour and income
4.5.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
In the first two months of 2019, more than 33,000 people registered as self-employed, the head of the Federal Tax Service Mikhail Mishustin told the Federation Council, reports TASS. This status allows you to use the new tax regime with a reduced rate: 4% - when working with individuals and 6% - when working with legal entities. The experiment, which began on January 1, is taking place in four regions - Moscow, Moscow region, Kaluga region and Tatarstan. Citizens who do not have an employer and employees and who create a product or service independently, without intermediaries, can take advantage of the special regime. Moreover, their income should not exceed 2.4mn rubles. in year.
The number of registered unemployed Russians increased 2.3% to 746,910 people from January 30 through February 6, the Labour and Social Protection Ministry said on Monday. Unemployment grew in 80 regions, the ministry said. The number of people working part-time, in dead time or on not fully paid vacations amounted to 143,066 as of February 6.
4.5.2 Income dynamics
Real disposable incomes contracted 1.3% in January, according to Rosstat. The median of 9 economists forecast a decline of 0.9%. Wages, after adjusting for inflation, rose less than expected at 0.2% in January. Retail sales grew 1.6%, the weakest since July 2017.
“People are increasing their debt because incomes are not growing, they support consumption habits by taking out loans, the situation is close to overheating,” said Natalia Orlova, an analyst at Alfa-Bank in Moscow. “Trends for wages and incomes don’t look good.”
Real disposable incomes crept up 0.3% in 2018 after four years of declines. Retail sales rose 2.6% in 2018, as consumers boosted borrowing by 23%.
44 RUSSIA Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com