OREANDA-NEWS.  November 28, 2014. Gross wages in Estonia grew 5.0 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2013, reported Statistics Estonia.

The country's average monthly gross wages and salaries stood at 977 euros, according to Statistic Estonia's Wages and Salaries Statistics Survey. The average hourly salary rate was 5.89 euros, a 5.6 percent increase.

Real wages, which take into account the influence of the change in the Consumer Price Index, increased 5.6 percent in the third quarter. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, real wages increased for the 13th straight quarter.

The report said the number of employees at the end of September was 4.9 percent higher than at the same time in 2013. The increase in the number of employees was the biggest in accommodation and food service activities and in real estate activities – slightly over 14 percent in each.

The average monthly and hourly gross wages and salaries increased the most in real estate activities (by 12.8 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively) in the year-on-year comparison. It decreased the most in monthly and hourly wages in information and communication (3.2 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively).

The average gross wages and salaries were 984 euros in July, 956 euros in August, and 990 euros in September.

In the third quarter this year, the employer’s average monthly labor costs per employee were 1,319 euros, and the average hourly labor costs were 9.33 euros. That was an increase of average monthly labor costs per employee of 5.1 percent and a rise of the average hourly labor costs by 5.4 percent compared to the third quarter of last year.

Statistics Estonia conducts the Wages and Salaries Statistics Survey on the basis of an international methodology since 1992. This year, the sample includes 11,920 enterprises, institutions and organizations.