The average monthly labor cost per worker increased by 5.8% between April and June 2023 compared to the same months of the previous year. Furthermore, this cost marked a historic figure, surpassing the 3,000-euro barrier for the first time and standing at 3,037.52 euros per worker.
The labor cost thus chains a total of ten quarters of increases, although the increase in these three months has been less than that of the first quarter of the year, in which it became more expensive by 6.2%, as reported this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Regarding its components, which in addition to workers’ salaries include social expenses, part of the increase can be explained by the increase in salaries, which in the second quarter of this year were 5% higher on average than the same period of 2022. The average monthly salaries have been 2,262.63 euros between April and June, the highest figure recorded since the beginning of the series in 2000.
Salary increases by sector
The highest annual wage growth in the second quarter occurred in administrative activities (+7.8%), hospitality (+7.7%) and transportation and storage (+7.2%), while the supply of electricity and gas and water and waste supply cut their salaries by 7.4% and 2.1%, respectively.
Other costs (non-wage costs) totaled 774.89 euros per worker per month in the second quarter of the year, with a year-on-year increase of 8%.
During the second quarter of 2023, the average agreed weekly working day, jointly considering full-time and part-time, was 34.8 hours. Of these, 4.9 hours were lost per week, of which 2.5 hours were not worked due to vacations and holidays.
According to the INE, the labor cost per effective hour rose by 6.5% at an annual rate in the second quarter of 2023 due to a 0.7% decrease in effective working hours.
