Figures from the National Statistics Office show that in the first quarter, turnover in the services sector stood at 101.7 points, up by 5.6 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter last year. During this period, Wholesale trade advanced by 2.3 per cent. Furthermore, increases were registered in Retail trade (+5.4 per cent), Transportation and storage (+8.1 per cent), and in Accommodation and food services activities (+9.6 per cent).

The first quarter showed that employment in services edged up by 0.2 per cent to 95.5 points, mainly on account of increases in Accommodation and food services activities (+1.1 per cent) and in Retail trade (+0.9 per cent). Partially mitigating this rise was a decline in employment in Wholesale trade, Transportation and storage, Information and communication and Administrative and support service activities of 0.9, 0.5, 2.7 and 2.1 per cent respectively.

During this period, gross wages and salaries went up by 1.3 per cent. Increases were registered in the Accommodation and food services activities (+5.1 per cent) and in the Wholesale trade (+2.4 per cent). On the other hand, Transportation and storage and Information and communication declined by 6.5 and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Hours worked advanced by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2010. The major increases were registered in the Accommodation and food services activities (+2.8 per cent) and in Retail trade (+1.2 per cent). In contrast, hours worked in Wholesale trade and Transportation and storage fell by 3.0 and 0.9 per cent respectively.

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