They rose 2.8% in the third quarter and already equal inflation
There are more and more statistics that suggest that salary increases are slowing down in the final stretch of the year. The Quarterly Labor Cost Survey (ETCL) published by the INE this Tuesday reflects that the cost of salaries paid by companies grew by 2.8% in the third quarter (corrected for seasonal and calendar effects).
A figure that deepens a trend towards lower salary increases that has been going on for several months. Without going any further, in the third quarter of 2024, salaries grew at a rate of 4% and at the start of 2025 they still did so at a speed of 3.6% year-on-year.
In fact, the salary improvement shown by the latest lNE data is no longer enough for salaries to gain purchasing power. The increase in consumer prices on average in the third quarter was exactly 2.8%.
The statistics known this Tuesday are in line with what the INE itself already announced in another very similar publication just a week ago. Then, data from the Harmonized Labor Cost Index (ICLA) indicated that wages per hour worked grew at a rate of 2.3% in the third quarter.
The latest data from the INE indicate that the salary cost – a metric comparable to the salary itself – stood at 2,380 euros per month in the third quarter. A new historical maximum that exceeds by 21% the average remuneration received in Spain before the pandemic. Although it must be taken into account that consumer prices have risen practically the same in that period, so, in reality, the purchasing power of salaries has not changed.
The rest of the costs (which mainly include social contributions) rose faster than the salary part, although their growth also moderated in the third quarter. Specifically, they increased by 3.4% and now represent 846.82 euros per month, more than a fifth of everything companies pay for each worker.
If the data per hour worked from the ETCL is analyzed, it can be seen how the salary deceleration is more abrupt than per worker. So, The cost in salaries paid by companies per hour worked stood at 18.65 euros on average in the third quarter, 2.5% more than in the same period last year. Regarding the complete labor cost per hour of work, it stood at 25.28 euros, after growing by 2.6%.
Hours not worked fall due to sick leave
The number of hours not worked due to temporary disability (the technical term for medical leave) was reduced to 8 per worker per monthafter having stood at 8.3 in the first two quarters of the year. Even so, they still remain at levels much higher than before the pandemic, when records pointed to an average of less than six hours.
The sectors where the most hours of medical leave are recorded are health and social services (10.7 hours per worker per month), administrative activities and auxiliary services (10), the manufacturing industry (9.1) and public administration and defense (8.8).
Regarding vacancies, the ETCL counted 152,677 jobs for which companies cannot find workers, a figure that has remained stable at around 150,000 since 2023. Most of them are registered in the services sector (134,735), although there are also in industry (11,585) and construction (6,357).
