wage costs

India's technology firms seem to be maturing, with a combination of fierce competition and rising wage costs putting pressure on profits.

Among all controllable costs in an enterprise, wage costs are in first place, this is very easy to understand.

The traded value of the Deutschmark had not fallen to reflect the higher unit wage costs that were a legacy of the unification boom.

In terms of relative unit wage costs, Germany's competitiveness has improved by around 13% since the euro started.

Italy's exporters are struggling with high wage costs and a strong euro.

As the German export sector returns to full capacity, one would expect wage costs to rise by more than the eurozone average.

Strong growth in unit wage costs against the backdrop of a tight-looking jobs market might limit the Fed's scope for rate cuts.

The only other solution is to drive down wage costs relative to those in competing countries.

When a country's wage costs rise too quickly, it can no longer recover lost competitiveness through a lower exchange rate.

It may also entrench deflation. A shortage of workers might push up wage costs, but companies will be loth to invest in new factories.

Today's economic crisis has little to do with differential wage costs within the euro.

Leaving the euro would allow Italy, Spain and the rest to devalue and bring their wage costs into line with workers' productivity.

But he is also quick to point out other factors, from higher wage costs to the cyclical impact of a surge in bank lending.

Paradoxically, labor's woes likely will enable many firms to beat near-term earnings expectations, as wage costs dwindle or stagnate.

Burma's garment manufacturers say once U. S. investment arrives their main concern will be increased wage costs and competition for workers.

Wage costs remain well below those in southern China and productivity is growing faster, albeit from a lower base.

In Mr Blanchard's model, the slump migrates across the currency zone according to shifts in relative wage costs.

Globalisation has brought the Indian and Chinese workforces into the world economy, which has kept the lid on wage costs.

Foreign resource extractors are queuing up. But high wage costs have scared away other investors.

A combination of slower overall growth and rising wage costs should squeeze profit margins.

Falling productivity pushes up unit-wage costs, hurting profits and cashflow.

Italy and Spain, meanwhile, look hamstrung by a loss of competitiveness following a long period in which unit wage costs have risen.

Any increase in wage costs would certainly be passed on to the flat.

But the revised third-quarter GDP numbers, announced on November 29th, offered a much more benign picture of wage costs.

Tightening of supply and demand, rising wage costs of labour, will be China's long-term trend.

Consumers are unlikely to spend more when wealth is shrinking and they worry that jobs may migrate to neighbours with lower wage costs.

The 1Q 2008 financial results of Chinese listed companies surprised almost universally on costs, especially wage costs.

Were unit wage costs to rise too far, they could recover competitiveness more quickly.

"We've seen our wage costs in China go up nearly 50% in the last two years alone, " he says.

Lower wage costs, in turn, have helped boost exports and jobs.

But high wage costs have scared away other investors.

Unit-wage costs have improved by 6% in the past year compared with Ireland's trading partners, according to the ECB.

That's because in Japan, falling prices have squeezed wage costs and helped exporters maintain market share.

In the 1960s and 1970s it came under threat from producers in developing countries who could benefit from low wage costs.

Last year, wage costs amounted to just 3. 5 per cent of company revenues in the electronics industry, according to Credit Suisse.