Page 49 - RusRPTJun20

there is tension in the form of unhappiness about the quarantine measures and necessity to stay home, but we see stabilization from the point of view of the amount of infected people.” The situation should stabilize in a month, he said.
4.5.2​ Income dynamics
Wage growth remained strong in March, at +8.6% YoY and +5.9% YoY in nominal and real terms​, respectively. However, the structure has already been heavily marked by the distinct demands of the economy during lockdown.
The trend of rising wages continued in April with nominal wages up 12.1% and real incomes up 9.7%. However, the real disposable incomes remained more or less flat year on year​, rising by 0.8% in April, but will almost certainly turn negative in May after inflation jumped.
Russians' real disposable income will fall by 3.8% in 2020​, according to the Economics Ministry, returning the fall in incomes to its six-year long trend after a very short period of growth in the last quarter of 2019.
The real wages growth of +5.9% YoY reported for March ​indicates that April's retail turnover decline was not driven by employee remuneration (or, at least, not on this record-breaking scale).
While the average wage growth in March remained close to that in February, its structure was more 'pandemic-marked': nominal wages growth accelerated ​to +12% YoY in retail and wholesale trade, indicating increased demand for labor, while in March, retail sales advanced was+5.6% YoY on the back of front-loaded demand. The strongest nominal wage growth was reported in postal & courier activities (+18.4% YoY).
49​ RUSSIA Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com