Costa Rica’s minimum wage will increase by 2.63 percent on Jan. 1, 2011, the Labor Ministry announced Thursday.
The increase is due to a rise in the country’s inflation rate, but has been kept low in order not to stimulate the loss of more jobs.
“The government has considered many factors: first, this number corresponds with the amount lost in purchasing power … second, it takes into consideration that we are in a very delicate time in which we have lost a great number of jobs – 7.8 percent or the equivalent of 166,000 people,” said Costa Rica’s Labor Minister Sandra Piszk in a statement.
Costa Rica’s minimum wage varies based on skill and education level, but for an unskilled worker it is set at ¢7,200 ($14) per day, which will increase to ¢7,390 (the equivalent of a ¢3,800 ($7.60) raise over a one-month period). The minimum wage was last raised by 3.41 percentin July, affecting some 1.5 million workers.
