Preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for the fourth quarter of 2019 indicate that the total hourly labour cost rose by 11.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. The total hourly labour cost grew by 10.5% in industry, by 11.5% in services, and by 14.5% in construction, the National Statistical Institute said in a press release.

The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growth in total labour costs was recorded in ‘Real estate activities’ – 19.6%, ‘Other service activities’ and ‘Education’ by 16.7%.

In the structure of the total labour costs, the wages and salaries costs per hour grew by 11.7% in comparison with a year earlier, while the other (non-wage) costs rose by 12.9%. Among the economic activities in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, the growth rate of wages and salaries component ranged from19.3% in ‘Real estate activities’ to 4.0% in ‘Mining and quarrying’.