The Wage Index in 2nd quarter 2008
Wages increased by 2.6% on average between the 1st and the 2nd quarter of 2008 according to the quarterly wage index. During the same period wages in the private sector increased by 3.1% and by 1.6% in the public sector. Wages increased by 8.5% from the previous year, 9.2% in the private sector and 6.7% in the public sector.

Wage index in the private sector by occupational group
Wage increases in the private sector ranged from 1.6% for Professionals to 5.0% for Craft workers, from the previous quarter.  Annual increases ranged from 7.5% for Managers to 11.2% for Craft workers.

Wage index in the private sector by economic activity
From the previous quarter, wage increases ranged from 1.4% in the economic activity of Financial intermediation (J) to 4.7% in Transportation (I). The annual increase of the wage index ranged from 8.5% in the economic activity of Manufacturing (D) to 10.7% in Construction (F).

Collective agreements
A collective agreement between the Confederation of Icelandic Employers (SA) and the Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASI), on behalf of its member unions, signed on 17 February 2008 and ratified by the trade unions on 12 March, stipulated, i.a. an increase in general wages by a fixed amount, 18,000 ISK from 1 February 2008, and a special 5.5% wage increase guaranty from January 2007 to the date of the introduction of the agreement. Since the agreement was not fully ratified until mid-March, it had considerable effect on the wage index in the 2nd quarter 2008. Other agreements between individual trade unions and the Confederation of Icelandic Employers, on behalf of its member businesses, were also ratified in this period.
 
The wage index in 2nd quarter 2008 also reflects the effects of a collective agreement between the Federation of State and Municipal Employees (BSRB), on behalf of its member unions and the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the State Treasury. The agreement stipulated an increase in general wages by a fixed amount, 20,300 ISK from 1 May 2008. According to collective agreement between the Association of Local Authorities in Iceland and the Association of Teachers in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools, signed on the 28 April wages increase by 25,000 ISK from 1 June 2008.