Spanish workers to get raise after 3 years of frozen wages

Spanish unions and employer organisations signed an agreement Monday to raise salaries after having kept wages frozen for the past three years, another sign of the rebound in Spain's economy.

The agreement could see salaries increase by 1.0 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2016.

The deal was concluded by the business owners' federations of CEOE and Cepyme, representing small- and medium-sized businesses, and the main workers' unions UGT and CCOO.

It covers a period of three years, but the amount of the increase for 2017 was not specified.

"This accord reflects the reality," said CEOE president Juan Rosell at a press conference, referring to the rebound in Spain's economy growth coupled with a drop in retail prices.

The eurozone's fourth largest economy returned to growth in 2014, with its GDP expanding by 1.4 percent, after five years of recession or stagnation.

At the same time, retail prices have fallen since July 2014.

But the Spanish labour market remains in difficulty with the unemployment rate at nearly 24 percent, the highest in the eurozone after Greece.