The cost per hour worked has increased for 16 quarters after rising 5.4% in the second quarter.

The cost per hour worked rose 5.4% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, a rate 3.5 points higher than the previous quarter and the highest since the third quarter of 2024, according to provisional data from the Harmonized Labor Cost Index (HCI) published this Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). With the increase in the April-June period of this year, labor costs have seen 16 consecutive quarters of year-on-year increases.

By component, wage costs (the portion of total expenditure per employee that employers allocate to salaries) increased by 5.1% in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2024, while other costs (contributions, benefits, severance pay, etc.) rose by 6.2%. Labor costs, excluding extraordinary payments and arrears, grew by 5.6% year-on-year between April and June of this year.

By activity, those that recorded the largest year-on-year increases in hourly wage costs in the second quarter of 2025 were other services (+8.1%), professional, scientific, and technical activities (+8%), and extractive industries (+7.9%). In contrast, the most moderate increases were recorded in artistic and recreational activities (+2.1%), public administration (+2.2%), and financial and insurance activities (+2.8%).

In the hospitality industry , wage costs rose 3.5% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, while labor costs increased 4%.

On a quarterly basis (second quarter over first quarter), labor costs per hour worked rose by 6.8% between April and June 2025, primarily due to the greater weight of extraordinary payments compared to the previous quarter.