Preliminary data of the NSI for the third quarter of 2021 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 13.8% compared to the third quarter of 2020. The total hourly labour cost increased by 14.2% in industry, 11.1% in services and 14.6% in construction.
The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growth in total labour costs was recorded in “Arts, entertainment and recreation” - 26.6%, “Education” - 23.5% and “Accommodation and food service activities” by 16.7%. Decrease in total labour costs was recorded in “Real estate activities” by 7.9%. In the structure of the total labour costs, the wages and salaries costs per hour worked grew by 14.1% in comparison with a year earlier, while the other (non-wage) costs rose by 12.3%.
Among the economic activities in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter of 2020 the growth rate of wages and salaries component ranged from 27.5% in “Arts, entertainment and recreation” to -8.6% in “Real estate activities”.