Wages and Labour Costs in Slovakia

Tracks wages and labour costs in Slovakia, that is, what workers are paid for their employment. MIND THE SCOPE: the monthly figure here is average pay in INDUSTRY, not the whole economy; the Slovak Statistical Office (SUSR) publishes no monthly whole-economy average. For the whole economy the reference is the labour cost index, which is quarterly and also shown on this page.

It is derived from labour cost and earnings structure surveys and administrative records. It is usually expressed as a year-on-year change in the average wage or labour cost, in nominal and sometimes real terms.

Wages are both the main component of household income and a large share of firms' costs, so their path is decisive for consumption and for the second-round inflationary pressures the ECB monitors across the euro area.

The monthly figure covers industry only, so it does not represent the labour market as a whole: it leaves out services, construction and the public sector, where most people work. It is useful as a fast read on the trend, not as the country's average wage. It is also an average, so it moves when the composition of employment changes (destroy low-paid jobs and the average rises without anyone being paid more).