Salaries slump in Spain with artists and estate agents worst affected

ARTISTS and real estate agents have been most affected by the economic crisis, according to data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

The salaries in these sectors have decreased 4.7% so far this year, while last year they saw an average decrease of 4.5%.

However all workers in Spain’s service sector, where the majority of workers (10.7 million) are employed, have seen a drop in wages, on average by 0.5%.

Salaries in the construction sector have been completely frozen, as a result of the major contraction in the property market.

Spain’s average salary for the first quarter of 2014 was €1,805.76, a 0.2% decrease from last year.