Salaries in Italy rose by 1.8% in July, over the previous month, the lowest increase in four years, national statistics bureau Istat reported on Monday.
Wages rose by 1.7% in June of 2003.
The increase in wages was just above the year-on-year inflation rate in July of 1.6%, Istat added.
Salary increases have been on the decline since December of last year when they rose 3.3%, compared to an inflation rate of 1.9%.
In June of this year salaries climbed by 2.2%, with inflation at 1.7%, while in May they were up 2.6% and inflation stood at 1.5%, Istat said.
Between January and May of this year, Istat reported, the number of work hours lost to strikes dropped 63.5% over the same period in 2006.
