Despite the crisis over the Covid-19 pandemic, business and government spending on wages is rising. According to the National Statistical Institute, in the second quarter of the year the total costs per hour of work increased by an average of 9.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

In industry the rise is by 10.7%, in services by 9% and in construction by 6%. The highest growth of total labor costs is in the sectors of "Real Estate" by 24%, in "Education" by 19% and in "Mining and Quarrying" by 13.5%. The lowest increase is in the most affected by the crisis branch of "Hotels and Restaurants" by 3.4 percent.