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MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russian wage arrears soared in October to the highest level for a year, official statistics showed on Wednesday, as cash strapped employers started to delay payments in a deepening economic crisis.
Russia is trying to prevent its economy stalling after the global credit crisis undermined confidence and pushed down prices for its main exports: oil, gas and natural resources.
But with some analysts predicting the economy will not expand next year after a 10-year boom, jobs are being slashed and wages left unpaid by companies struggling to find cash.
In October, wage arrears rose 33.4 percent to stand at 4.02 billion roubles ($146.5 million) on Nov. 1, the Federal Statistics Service said. The main reason cited for the arrears was lack of funds to pay the wages.
"Wage arrears due to the absence of funds in organisations on Nov. 1 totalled 3.8 billion roubles, or 94.6 percent of the total wage arrears," the statistics service said.
It said arrears were last this high in November 2007, shortly after the global credit crisis took hold, but gave no further details.
The sector with the most wage arrears was manufacturing, which accounted for 38 percent of the total, followed by transport, construction and agriculture. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)