MADRID, 12 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The cost per hour worked increased by 3.5% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021, its highest rise since the arrival of Covid, in the second quarter of 2020, according to provisional data from the Harmonized Labor Cost Index (ICLA) published this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
With the rebound in the July-September period, which expands by more than two points that experienced in the previous quarter, the cost of labor has chained five quarters of year-on-year rises.
By component, the salary cost increased by 3.7% in the third quarter compared to the same quarter of 2021, its highest increase since the second quarter of 2020, while other costs rose by 3%. Labor cost, excluding extraordinary payments and arrears, grew by 3.3% year-on-year in the third quarter.
Eliminating seasonal and calendar effects, the labor cost per hour worked increased by 2.7% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2021, a rate four tenths higher than that of the previous quarter and which is the highest since the last quarter of 2020.
With this rebound, there are also five quarters of positive rates in the corrected series.
On a quarterly basis (third quarter over second quarter), labor cost per hour worked increased by 0.5% in the series adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, two tenths more than in the previous quarter. With this increase, five quarters of quarterly increases have already been accumulated.
Without taking into account the seasonal and calendar adjustment, the cost of labor increased by 4.1% between July and September, mainly due to the lower number of hours worked for the summer holidays compared to the second quarter. By components, the wage cost grew 2.3% quarterly, while other costs rose 9.6%. The labor cost, excluding extraordinary payments and arrears, increased by 9.2% in relation to the second quarter.
LABOR COSTS RISE 8.1% IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The activities that registered the highest annual increases in labor costs in the third quarter were the hotel and catering industry (8.1%), real estate activities (7.7%), and transport and storage (7.2%). In contrast, the only year-on-year cuts occurred in artistic, recreational and entertainment activities (-4.6%) and in financial and insurance activities (-1%).
If seasonal and calendar effects are eliminated, the activities where labor costs increased the most in the third quarter in relation to the same period in 2021 were also the hospitality industry (7.5%), real estate activities (6.7%) and transportation and storage (6.1%).
Likewise, the largest and only annual decreases in labor cost in the corrected series were experienced by artistic activities (-6.2%), information and communications (-1.3%) and financial and insurance activities (-0.9% ).
As regards wages, the extractive industries led the year-on-year increases in the third quarter, with a rise of 8.5%, followed by real estate activities (7.5%) and wholesale trade (7.1%), while that the largest and only setbacks in wages occurred in artistic activities (-6.6%) and financial activities (-0.4%).
