In the 1st quarter of 2026, the Labour Cost Index (LCI) recorded a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. In the previous quarter, it had increased 7.6%.
The wage costs (per hour actually worked) increased by 5.0% and the other labour costs (also per hour actually worked) increased by 4.6%, compared with the same period of the previous year.
The year-on-year change of the LCI resulted also from the increase of 4.9% in the average cost per employee and the decrease of 0.1% in the number of hours actually worked per employee. The increase of the average cost per employee was common to all economic activities, with higher increases in Construction (6.7%) and lower in Public Administration (4.5%). With the exception of Construction, which presented a higher increase than in the preceding quarter, the remaining activities recorded lower increases. The hours actually worked per employee decreased 1.1% in Industry, 0.3% in Construction and in Public Administration, and increased 0.6% in Services. As a result of these variations, the LCI increased in all economic activities, with the largest increase being recorded in Construction (7.0%).
