During the fourth quarter of 2010, the average monthly salary in Bulgaria went up by 4.9% compared to the third quarter, to reach BGN 669.

The data was released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (NSI).

The average salary in October, November and December was BGN 650, 667 and 691 respectively.

The highest increases were registered in Education (13%), Financial Services (10%) while the salaries went down the most in Administration (1%) and the Mining Sector (0.1%).

During the fourth quarter of 2010, the average monthly salary was up over 10% compared to the same quarter of the 2009.

In the last 3 months of 2010, the highest average monthly salaries were registered in the Financial Services Sector BGN - 1 147; followed by the Energy Sector – BGN 1 412, and the Information and Communications Sector – BGN 1 308.

The monthly salaries were the lowest in the Hotel and Restaurant Sector – BGN 432 and the Administration Sector – BGN 437.

On annual basis, the average monthly salary in the last quarter of 2010 was up 6% in the public sector and 13% in the private one.

In December 2010, the number of employed people was down by 50 000 or 2.3% compared to September 2010. The most reductions of staff were registered in seasonal activities such as hotel services, farming and construction.

On annual basis, in December 2010, the number of employed was down by 106 000 people or nearly 5%.