April 6 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's economy expanded by an estimated 1.0% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2022 despite the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on economic activity, the Slovenian central bank said.
"After extremely high economic growth last year (8.1%), favourable economic trends continued at the beginning of 2022. The Bank of Slovenia's short-term estimates show an average 1.0% quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of this year," the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
Inflation in Slovenia amounted to 6.0% on an annual comparison basis in March due to the rise in energy prices, which is being transferred to the cost of other goods, the central bank said.
At the same time, labour market conditions remain very favourable as employment continues to rise and, with the availability of local workers diminishing, employment of foreign workers is increasing, the central bank noted.
In January, the average nominal gross wage was down by 2.7% year on year, while the real wage bill was down by 1.7%. "In both cases, the main reason is the normalization of wage levels in public services after the abolition of most epidemic-related wage supplements. With further increases in employment and wages, real wage growth in the private sector remained high at 5.6%, despite inflation," the central bank said.