A 66% monthly surge in the so-called poverty datum line compiled by Zimbabwe's Central Statistical Office indicating the theoretical minimum cost of living for a family of five put the index at Z$938,000 in February, following Z$566,000 in January.
The rise reflected the continued increase in prices for basic goods and services under the country's cumulative annual inflation rate measured at over 1,700% last month.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions deplored the latest increase in household living costs at a time when workers are already struggling simply to survive. It urged employers to pay their workers a minimum of one million dollars a month.
ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the longer business and labor delay in resolving wage disputes the harder it becomes for the average Zimbabwean family to get by.