Wages rose 6.2% in the first quarter of this year, their highest threshold since 2000.

He labor cost average per worker (including wages and social security contributions) increased by 6.2% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022, at 2,897.87 euros per monthwhich is the largest increase since the second quarter of 2021, the National Institute for Statistics reported this Friday (AND NOT).

This increase, which has been recorded for nine consecutive quarters, is two points higher than that recorded in the third quarter of 2022, when it increased by 4.2%.

According to INE, the industrial sector led the biggest jump the year-on-year labor cost in the first quarter of the year, 6.7%, to 3,355.42 euros per month, also led the growth of wages, with a growth of 6.1%, to 2,130.3 euros.

He The sector with the lowest labor cost is cateringwhich amounts to 1722.4 euros per worker, although an increase of 9.5% was recorded compared to the first quarter of 2022.

salaries

The cost of labor consists of the cost of wages and other costs. Between January and March, salaries (all fees, both in money and in kind) up 6% year in the gross amount, reaching a monthly average of 2,126.63 euros per workerthe highest number in the first quarter since the beginning of the series in 2000.

Energy supply, financial activities and information and communications are the ones that bring the highest salaries, with 6,685.68 euros, 4,882.51 euros and 3,355 euros per worker and month, respectively, while minors correspond to catering (1,252 euros)artistic, recreational and entertainment activities (1,432 euros) and administrative activities (1,493.75 euros).

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Other costs (costs not related to wages) amounted to a total of 771.24 euros per worker per month in the first quarter of the year, with a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. The most important component of other costs are Mandatory social security contributionswhich amounted to 710.73 euros per month, 7% more but in the first quarter of 2022.

Another important element of other expenses are payments other than wages, which increased by 4.8% year-on-year, due to the increase in severance pay.

On the other hand, subsidies and bonuses increased by 7.1% year-on-year between January and March 2023.

Effects on inflation

More precisely, the president of the employers’ association CEO, Antonio Garamendihe warned this Friday about “significant” influence of wages on the so-called “second round of inflation” -a phenomenon that consists of new price increases due to wage increases that try to compensate for the loss of purchasing power- and believes that it is the public administrations that “must respond” to the demands of the workers because on the ground the private sector, employers and trade unions have reached an agreement in the National Agreement for the coming years.

Most of the lost hours are due to vacations and parties

During the first quarter of 2023, Spaniards agreed to work an average of 34.7 hours per week. Of that, 3.9 hours were lost, of which 2.4 hours were not worked due to vacations and holidays; 1 hour is due to temporary incapacity; 0.3 hours for maternity and paternity leave, and another 0.2 hours for other permits, strikes and technical, economic, organizational, production and/or force majeure.

If overtime is added and lost hours are subtracted, the effective working hours per week are reduced to 31.

Almost 150,000 vacancies were reported

INE also reported that in the first quarter of 2023, 149,645 open jobs. Nine out of ten belonged to the service sector.

A vacancy is understood as a position that has recently been opened or that is not filled or will soon become available and for which the employer is taking active steps to find a candidate outside the company.

93.5 percent of companies responded to INA’s inquiry that they have no vacancies in the period from January to March because they do not need additional workers.