The hourly cost of labor, an indicator of the wage burden for employers, increased by 12.3% in Romania in the last quarter of 2016, compared to the same period in 2015.

The real estate, education, and healthcare sectors recorded the highest year-on-year increases in the hourly cost of labor, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS).

The cost of labor increased by 22.2% year-on-year in the healthcare and social assistance sector. In the education field, the growth reached 19.5%. The banking and insurance sector was the only one where labor costs went down by 1.55% in the fourth quarter.

In December 2016, the net average wage in Romania amounted to EUR 521, up 11.4% year-on-year. Last year’s wage increases helped boost consumption, which supported the economic growth.

editor@romania-insider.com