Bulgarians' paychecks swell to defy economic downturn
The average monthly pay in Bulgaria added BGN 8 in June 2009 from March, topping BGN 587, the statistical office said.
The public sector pulled off a 4.9% increase and private companies dug 4.2% deeper for salaries, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
Finance and insurance strode atop of the list of the best-paid sectors with an average of BGN 1,355. Second-best was heating, power and gas distribution and generation with BGN 1,321, followed by media and communications with BGN 934.
The tourism sector trailed the table with paychecks of BGN 387 on average. Among the other low-paid workers were those employed in administrative and auxiliary activities, which earned BGN 425. The farming sector fetched BGN 446.
The construction industry and the state administration slimmed down their staff as tourism and agriculture created jobs in June, the NSI said. The workforce was 0.4% smaller than the previous month and 4.1% from a year earlier. Downsizing affected mostly sectors handing out relatively high paychecks while the bulk of the new jobs were created in the lowest-pay sectors.
The majority of workers who were made redundant were employed in the public sector, while the private sector headcount remained intact.
The largest number of jobs were axed in the processing industry, where 10.8% of the workforce were given the chop. Construction was the second-worst affected sector, with lost jobs amounting to 7.7% of all.
Despite the numerous lay-offs, the construction sector ranked second in terms of pay rise for the second quarter with a 26.6% from March. People engaged in the culture, sports and entertainment sector enjoyed the biggest rise in paychecks of 26.8%.
now that's good news during a time like these days where the economy isn't doing well...
ReplyDeletethere's are signs of recovery but let's hope it a sustained one!
cheers to better days ahead!