BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2015/21
Given an environment of lower economic growth, the reduction in the labour supply has not led to significant labour shortages. Still, for example, there are more job openings than applicants in China’s high-growth coastal provinces. The rapid rise in Chinese real wages, however, does clearly reflect pressure in the labour market. Soaring wages have accelerated the shifting of production of low-value-added export goods to countries with lower labour costs and to China’s interior provinces that have lower wage levels.