In the 1st quarter of 2024, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 6.2%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 6.3%.

The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 6.3%, and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 6.1%, compared with the same period of the previous year.

The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted also from the increase of 6.1% in the average cost per employee and the 0.2% decrease in the number of hours actually worked per employee. The increase of the average cost per employee was common to all economic activities, with smaller variations than those observed in the preceding quarter, with the exception of Public Administration, which rate of change remained the same (5.9%). The largest increase was observed in the Industry and Construction sectors, both with a variation rate of 6.3%. The hours actually worked per employee also recorded increases in all economic activities, with the exception of the total of the economy and Public Administration, where it decreased by 0.2% and 3.2%, respectively. The largest increase was observed in Construction (2.0%) and the lowest in Industry (1.4%). As a result of these variations, the LCI increased in all economic activities, with the largest increase being recorded in Public Administration (9.3%).