Bulgaria's Average Wage Up 8.7% in Q4 2011 Y/Y

The average monthly wages and salaries of the employees under labor contract in October, November and December 2011 were BGN 706, 723 and 752, respectively. File photo

In the fourth quarter of 2011 in comparison with the third quarter of 2011 the average monthly wages and salaries in Bulgaria increased by 4.9% to BGN 727.

The preliminary data was released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (NSI).

The average monthly wages and salaries of the employees under labor contract in October, November and December 2011 were BGN 706, 723 and 752, respectively.

The highest increase in wages and salaries was reported in "Education" - 13.4%, "Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply" - 8.0% and in "Public Administration and Defense; Compulsory Social Security" - 7.3%.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, the average monthly wages and salaries in the fourth quarter of 2011 rose by 8.7%. The highest growth rates were recorded in economic activities: "Information and Communication" - 23.5% and "Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities" - 21.9%.

The economic activities with the highest wages and salaries in the fourth quarter of 2011 were: "Information and Communication" - BGN 1 616; "Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply" – BGN 1 544, "Financial and Insurance Activities" – BGN 1 428.

The lowest wages and salaries were recorded in: "Administrative and Support Service Activities" – BGN 451, "Accommodation and Food Service Activities" – BGN 461 AND "Other Service Activities" – BGN 504.

In comparison with a year earlier the average monthly wages and salaries in the public sector grew by 4.2%, while in private sector - by 10.5%.

According to the preliminary data of NSI, at the end of December 2011, the number of employees under labor contract decreased by 56.4 thousands or 2.6% as compared to the end of September 2011 and reached 2.13 million.

The highest decrease was observed in economic activity "Accommodation and Food Service Activities"- 17.4%, "Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing"- 14.0%, and "Construction" - 5.0%.

The highest increase of employees was recorded in economic activity "Administrative and Support Service Activities"- 2.4%.

In the structure of employees by economic activities the biggest relative share of employees was in "Manufacturing" - 22.7% and "Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles" -18.1%.

At the end of December 2011, as compared to December 2010, the number of employees under labor contract declined by 15.4 thousands or 0.7%. The highest decrease in absolute figures was observed in economic activities "Manufacturing" - 18.9 thousands, "Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles" - 11.7 thousands and "Construction" - 8.9 thousands.

In percentages the highest decrease was in "Construction" - 6.7%, "Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply" - 5.7% and "Manufacturing" - 3.8%.

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