13.2%
was the decline of real wages among Russians in April 2015.
This is the most negative value for the entire post-crisis period (2008-2009).
Real disposable incomes have been falling for six months. As a result, Russian households have switched to a pattern of behaviour focused on savings, purchasing manufactured goods with a high degree of caution and greater selectivity. The falling purchasing power of end-users is creating serious problems for companies when it comes to demand for their products.
These data are presented in a new Monitoring the Business Climate in Industrial Organizations study that was conducted in May 2015 by the Centre for Business Tendency Studies at the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK).
Hari the Robot Recommends
We created Hari the robot and named him after Hari Seldon, a character who can predict the future in the works of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. He is based on a machine-learning model that selects news based on the behavioural metrics of HSE website users.
Don’t worry — we don’t collect any personal data for this.
HSE and China’s Top Universities to Launch Large-Scale Research and Education Projects
September 02
HSE and Sber Team Up to Train Specialists for Russian and Indian Markets
September 05
HSE Graduate School of Business and Avito open a space for future product leaders
September 05
See also:
Why Women in Russia Earn Less Than Men
On average, women in Russia earn 30-35% less than men. According to this indicator, Russia is ahead of many developed countries. The difference in earnings is primarily associated with the uneven distribution of men and women in different industries and professions, but economists cannot explain a significant portion of the discrepancy. Aleksey Oshchepkov, Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at HSE University, came to these conclusions after analyzing research materials and survey data. The results are published in a chapter of the volume, Gendering Post-Soviet Space, recently published by Springer.
30%
of entrepreneurs in service industries reported a decrease in consumer demand for their services in the fourth quarter of 2015.
2%
of representatives of small manufacturing companies who are prepared to take out long-term loans to develop and modernize their operations would agree to do so at rates comparable to the current rates of 18-21%.
15%
of directors at Russian industrial companies in October reported a decrease in the number of employees compared to September.
+4%
was the index of business confidence in retail trade. The indicator’s value increased after six months of being in a critical zone near zero.
5%
of industrial managers view the current economic situation at their enterprises as ‘favourable’.
–14%
was the level to which the business confidence index in building materials production fell in May of this year.
32%
Only this share of people who were unemployed in 2013 and were looking for work were employed last year.
-12%
was the level to which the business confidence index in the service sector fell in the first quarter of 2015. This is a record decline. For the year, the value of the index has fallen by 10 percentage points.
30%
of entrepreneurs in the retail sector reported that they had reduced headcount in their organizations in the fourth quarter of 2014. Compared with the beginning of the year, the trend with respect to headcount reductions has doubled.