MADRID, 9 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The cost per hour worked increased by 3.6% in the fourth quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021, its highest rise since the arrival of Covid, in the second quarter of 2020, according to provisional data from the Harmonized Labor Cost Index (ICLA) published this Thursday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

With the rebound in the October-December period, which increased by one tenth that experienced in the previous quarter, the cost of labor chained six quarters of year-on-year increases.

By components, the salary cost increased by 4.1% in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same quarter of 2021, its highest increase since the second quarter of 2020, while other costs rose by 2.2% . Labor cost, excluding extraordinary payments and arrears, grew by 3.2% year-on-year in the last stretch of 2022.

Eliminating seasonal and calendar effects, the labor cost per hour worked increased by 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, a rate four tenths higher than that of the previous quarter and which is the highest since the arrival of Covid.

With this rebound, there are also six quarters of positive rates in the corrected series.

On a quarterly basis (fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of the same year), the labor cost per hour worked rose 1.2% in the series adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, five tenths more than in the previous quarter and its highest rise since the end of 2020. With this rise, six quarters of quarterly increases have already accumulated.

Without taking into account the seasonal and calendar adjustment, the cost of labor rose 3.5% between October and December, mainly due to the greater weight of extraordinary payments compared to the previous quarter.