[Venezuela] OKs Wage Hike for Public Workers

from The Houston Chronicle

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government has approved an average wage hike of 47 percent for all public employees, the state-run news agency said Monday.

The salaries of state employees were raised between 34 percent and 61.8 percent on Feb. 1, the Bolivarian News Agency said.

According to the government's National Institute of Statistics, 1.63 million people work in the public sector out of a labor force of about 12 million.

President Hugo Chavez also announced a 15 percent hike in the minimum wage on Feb. 1, increasing it to about 466,000 bolivars (US$217; euro180) a month. His administration has been raising the minimum wage annually by about 20 to 30 percent since 2002.

Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, saw its economy grow 9.4 percent in 2005. The government says 37 percent of the population continues to live in poverty.