MANILA, Philippines?The International Labor Organization (ILO) Tuesday questioned assertions that the global economic recession was over since wages continued to drop.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the ILO said real wages worldwide declined for a second year in a row. In 2008, based on a sample of 53 countries where data was available, growth in real average wages in the median country fell from 4.3 percent in 2007 to 1.4 percent in 2008.

The ILO said it expected wages to slide even further in 2009. In the first quarter of the year alone, real monthly wages sagged in half of the 35 countries that submitted data, compared to their average in 2008.

?The continued deterioration of real wages worldwide raises serious questions about the true extent of an economic recovery, especially if government rescue packages are phased out too early,? said Manuela Tomei, director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Program.

Tomei said the drop in wages was because of reduced work hours and cuts in the employment sector as companies try to cushion the effects of the credit crunch which started in 2008.

She said the recession left the workers in a precarious and vulnerable position. Kristine L. Alave