According to preliminary data of Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute (NSI) for the third quarter of 2013, total labor costs per hour grew by 2.8% from the third quarter of 2012.

Total hourly labor costs grew by 3.6% in industry, by 0.9% in the services sector and by 4.3% in construction.

According to the breakdown by economic activities, the highest year-on-year increases in TOTAL labor costs in Q3, 2013 were registered in the sectors of education (6.8%), public administration and defense (5.9%) and human health and social work activities (5.2%).

The biggest decreases in total labor costs were registered in the spheres of arts entertainment and recreation (7.8%), and other activities (3.4%).

In Q3, 2013, the share of salary costs per hour of the total labor costs grew by 2.6% on the year, while other (non-wage) costs went up by 3.7%.

Depending on the economic activities, the salary costs component changed differently in the course of one year, starting from -8.8% in the sphere of arts, entertainment and recreation to 7.1% in the sphere of education.