The wages in the Eurozone rose in Q1 2019 at their historical highest pace, according to the Eurostat data. Wage growth is a positive sign of the European Central Bank’s plans to accelerate inflation, but so far it has not led to higher prices in the 19 countries in the region.

Eurostat data shows that wages increased by 2.5% in the first three months of the year, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, which is the biggest increase since 2010. It is from that time that the collection of data by this indicator. By comparison, in the previous two quarters, wages grew by 2.3%.

Salaries even rose slightly over total labor costs, which posted a 2.4% increase.

Among the largest economies in the Eurozone, France’s wage growth in the first quarter accelerated by 2.8%, while in Germany growth is 2.5%, in Spain is 2.2% and in Italy is 1.9%.

Although wages are rising and employment is record high, consumer prices have repeatedly been below expectations, with core inflation remaining weak, putting into question the central bank’s ability to control prices.

In the first three months of the year, when record wage growth was recorded, Eurozone inflation was at 1.4% in January and March, and in February at 1.5%.

According to latest Eurostat data, inflation in May slowed down to 1.2%.