Preliminary data of NSI for the Fourth Quarter of 2012 indicated that the total hourly labor cost rose by 5.1% compared to the Fourth Quarter of 2011. The total hourly labor cost grew by 2.9% in industry and by 9.1% in services. In construction the total hourly labor costs decreased by 2.4%.

The breakdown by economic activities showed that the highest annual growths in total labor costs were recorded in ‘Other service activities’ - 26.3%, ‘Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ - 18.0%, ‘Real estate activities’ - 14.1% and ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ - 13.8%. The highest decrease in total labor costs was observed in ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ by 6.6% and ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’ by  3.9%.