The total hourly labour cost rose by 3.5% for the third quarter of 2020

Preliminary data of the NSI for the third quarter of 2020 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 3.5% compared to the third quarter of 2019. The total hourly labour cost grew by 4.3% in services and by 3.2% in construction, while in industry there was a decrease by 0.6%.

The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growths in total labour costs were recorded in “Real estate activities” - 23.9%, “Public administration and defence; compulsory social security” - 15.9% and “Human health and social work activities” by 8.1%. The highest decrease in total labour costs were recorded in ‘Arts, entertainment and recreation’ by 11.3%, ”Accommodation and food service activities” by 4.25 and “Transportation and storage” by 3.3%

In the structure of the total labour costs, the wages and salaries costs per hour worked grew by 3.4% in comparison with a year earlier, while the other (non-wage) costs rose by 3.9%. Among the economic activities in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019 the growth rate of wages and salaries component ranged from 25.3% in “Real estate activities” to (-12.0%) in “Arts, entertainment and recreation”.