In the 2nd quarter of 2024, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 6.6%.
The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 7.2%, and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 7.1%, compared with the same period of the previous year.
The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted also from the combined effect of the increase of 6.3% in the average cost per employee and the decrease of 0.8% in the number of hours actually worked per employee. Compared with the preceding quarter, the increase of the average cost per employee was common to all economic activities, with higher increases in Construction (7.2%) and smaller in Industry (6.7%) and in Public Administration (5.9%). In Services, the average cost per employee remained unchanged (6.6%). The hours actually worked per employee decreased in all economic activities, with the exception of Public Administration, where it increased by 1.3%. The largest decrease was observed in Industry (3.0%) and the lowest in Services (1.3%). As a result of these variations, the LCI increased in all economic activities, with the largest increase being recorded in Industry (10.0%).
