Russia Sees Biggest Decline in Wages, Retail Sales Since 1999

Real wages fell 10.9 percent in October from a year earlier, a deeper contraction than the median estimate by economists for a 9.7 percent decrease, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said Thursday in a statement. The office revised down September’s wages contraction to 10.4 percent. Sales declined 11.7 percent from a year earlier after shrinking 10.4 percent the previous month. That compared with forecast of a 10 percent drop.

Russian consumption, battered by persistent inflation and a weaker ruble, is lagging improvements in industry that propped up the economy last quarter. The loss of purchasing power is deepening the prospect that the recession will extend into next year as a glutted oil market leaves little hope for a recovery in crude prices to ignite growth.