Canary Islands lag behind in state salaries

Canary Islands present the lowest wage cost in the second quarter, at €1,936.7 including salaries and social security contributions.

The National Statistics Institute (INE) reported on Tuesday that the Canary Islands recorded the lowest wage cost in the second quarter of the year, totaling €1,936.7, which is 3.4% higher than the same period last year.

By autonomous community, the highest wage costs were registered in Madrid (+1.7% to €2,935.3), Catalonia (+2.4% to €2,635.3) and Navarre (+2.1% to €2,607.7), while the Canary Islands and Extremadura (+2.2% to €1,973.8) recorded the lowest.

Andalusia and La Rioja posted the largest year‑on‑year increases in wage cost for the second quarter, rising 5.2% and 5.0% to €2,147.6 and €2,320.5 per worker per month, respectively. In contrast, Asturias and Cantabria were the only regions with declines, falling 1.4% and 1.2% to €2,337 and €2,098 per worker per month.

Hourly wages rose in every region during the second quarter, especially in Andalusia (+8.8%), the Basque Country (+6.9%) and Murcia (+6.7%).

The average labor cost per worker per month (including wages and social security contributions) increased 3% year‑on‑year, reaching €3,256.54—the first time it has surpassed €3,200 in a second quarter since the series began in 2000.

With this annual rise in labor cost—0.8 percentage points lower than the previous quarter—the increase marks the 18th consecutive quarter of gains.

Labor cost consists of wage cost and other costs. Between April and June, wages (all cash and in‑kind remuneration) rose 2.7% year‑on‑year in gross terms, averaging €2,416.5 per worker per month, the highest figure for a second quarter since the series started in 2000.

Other costs (non‑wage costs) totaled €840.04 per worker per month in the second quarter, up 4% year‑on‑year. The main component of these other costs is mandatory Social Security contributions, which increased 3.8% year‑on‑year.

According to INE, effective‑hour labor cost grew 5.5% year‑on‑year in the second quarter, reaching €24.99. Paid‑hour labor cost rose 3% year‑on‑year to €21.45.

INE also provides calendar‑adjusted and seasonally‑adjusted data for this statistic. In the seasonally‑adjusted series, labor cost per worker rose 3.3% year‑on‑year in Q2 2025—0.3 percentage points less than the previous quarter—marking the 19th consecutive quarter of year‑on‑year increases in the adjusted series.

On an intra‑quarter basis (second quarter versus first quarter), labor cost per worker per month increased 0.7% in the seasonally‑adjusted data, 0.2 percentage points less than the prior quarter. This makes it the 20th consecutive quarter of labor‑cost growth.

Public Administration and Artistic Activities Reduce Labor Cost

By activity sector, the largest year‑on‑year labor‑cost increases were seen in extractive industries (+6.7% to €4,864.6 per worker per month) and electricity and gas supply (+6.3% to €7,702.57 per worker per month).

Conversely, the only sectors with year‑on‑year declines were Public Administration, down 0.8% to €4,028.76 per worker per month, and artistic activities, down 4% to €2,176.3 per worker per month.

The smallest upward moves were recorded in financial activities (+0.2%) and hospitality, which, with a 1.9% increase, posted the lowest labor cost among all sectors at €1,932.2 per worker per month.

Almost 150,000 Vacancies Between April and June

INE also reported that 149,739 job vacancies were recorded in the second quarter, 1,640 fewer than in the same quarter of 2024.

Of the total vacancies, 88.5% were in the services sector (132,487 vacancies), 7.5% in industry (11,268 vacancies) and 4% in construction (5,984 vacancies).

A job vacancy is defined as a newly created position, an unfilled position, or one that will soon become vacant, for which the employer is actively seeking an external candidate.

91.4% of surveyed companies said they had no vacancies to fill between April and June because they did not need additional workers, while 4.8% cited high hiring costs as the reason for the lack of vacancies.

Madrid and Catalonia concentrated the highest number of vacancies in the second quarter, with 29,403 and 26,323 respectively, whereas La Rioja and Cantabria reported the lowest figures, with 792 and 1,495 vacancies.