19/03/2018 (Agence Europe) – In 2017, workers in Italy (- 4.3%), United Kingdom (-2.4%), Spain (- 4.4%), Belgium (-1.1%), Greece (- 19.1%), Portugal (- 8.3%), Finland (-1%), Croatia (-7.9%) and Cyprus (-10.2%) had wage levels below the level for 2010, according to a press release from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on Monday 19 March. Even worse, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Greece and Finland experienced real falls in wages, (taking into account the cost of living) for the 2016-2017 period. On the other hand, Bulgaria (+54.5%), Latvia (+44.1%), Lithuania (+32.2%) and Romania (+30%) experience sharp increases over the 2010-17 period. The figures come from the annual ‘Benchmarking Working EUROPE 2018’ study carried out by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and published today (the length containing the report exclusively in English can be found at: http://bit.ly/2u0ybQh ). (PH)