Preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for the First Quarter of 2013 indicated that the total hourly labour cost rose by 4.7% compared to the First Quarter of 2012. The total hourly labour cost grew by 4.2% in industry and by 4.8% in services. In construction the total hourly labour costs decreased by 0.4%.
The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growths in total labour costs were recorded in ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - 11.7%, ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ - 10.2% and ‘Information and communication’ - 10.0%. Decrease in total labour costs was observed in ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ by 2.7% and ‘Other service activities’ by 1.9%.
In the structure of the total labour costs, the wages and salaries costs per hour worked grew by 4.5% in comparison with a year earlier, while the other (non-wage) costs rose by 5.3%. Among the economic activities in the First Quarter of 2013 compared to the First Quarter of 2012 the growth rate of wages and salaries component ranged from (-3.2%) in ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ to 12.4% in ‘Accommodation and food service activities’.