According to a survey by the Latvian Central Statictics Office, the cost of the nation’s workforce per hour grew by 21.4 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared to Q3 2007. However, compared to the second quarter, labour costs grew by just 4.5 percent. The growth in labour costs has been slackening since the fourth quarter of 2007. Nevertheless, in the hotel and restaurant sector, they grew by 23.7 percent in Q3 2008 year-on-year. The sector still has the lowest wages, at LVL 2.44 (EUR 3.50) per hour on average.

 

Diena, 2008-12-13