Demand for natural gas in North America has remained strong in recent years, particularly as environmental concerns have led clean-burning natural gas to become the fuel of choice for new electricity generation. Moreover, increases in oil prices have boosted the demand for energy substitutes such as natural gas. However, domestic production of natural gas has not kept up.
The level of pay of highly educated labour has increased in new member states, while in the old member states the growth rate of comparable salaries has slowed down. The purchasing-power-adjusted difference in the standard of living has narrowed down.