Average nominal monthly wages in May 2026 increased year-on-year across all 10 sectors monitored on a monthly basis, with the growth ranging from 1.3 percent in information and communication to 7.3 percent in retail trade, the Statistics Office reported on Tuesday.
Real wages, adjusted for inflation, rose y-o-y in six of the 10 monitored segments. Growth ranged from 1.1 percent in wholesale trade to 3.4 percent in retail trade. Real wages also recorded stronger growth in industry, a key sector of the Slovak economy, where they increased by 3 percent.
By contrast, four sectors posted y-o-y declines in real wages. The sharpest fall was in information and communication (-2.4 percent), followed by construction (-1.4 percent), selected market services (-0.4 percent), and the sale and repair of motor vehicles (-0.1 percent).
From January to the end of May 2026, both nominal and real wages increased y-o-y in nine of the 10 sectors monitored monthly. Real wage growth over the period ranged from a 4.2 percent decline in information and communication to a 2.1 percent increase in transport and storage.
Employment in May 2026 was higher year-on-year in five of the ten sectors monitored on a monthly basis, with the strongest growth, of 5 percent or more, recorded in construction and selected market services, the Statistics Office reported on Tuesday.
By contrast, employment declined primarily in retail trade, where the number of people employed fell by 2.7 percent year-on-year. The workforce also decreased in wholesale trade (-2.4 percent), transport and storage (-1.8 percent), the sale and repair of motor vehicles (-1.1 percent), and industry (-0.5 percent).
Over the first five months of 2026, employment increased in five of the ten monitored sectors, with the strongest growth recorded in accommodation services at 5.4 percent. On the other hand, employment declined in wholesale and retail trade, transport and storage, industry, and the sale and repair of motor vehicles.
Source: TASR
