A total of 2.45 mln people worked under employment contracts in Bulgaria as at the end of March 2008, data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) show.

The figure represents an increase of 13,000, compared to February and a rise of 65,000 compared to the end of 2007.

The average monthly salary in the country stood at 484 leva in the first quarter of the year. The figure marked a 6.1-percent quarter on quarter increase increase. The average monthly salary in the services sector rose by 2 leva in the first quarter of the year compared to the last quarter of 2007. The monthly salary in the private sector grew by 36 leva over the period.

The highest paid employees in the first quarter of the year worked in the fields of Financial Brokerage and Electricity, Gas and Water Supply with an average salary of 1,153 and 818 leva, respectively. The lowest paid employees worked in the fields of Hotels and Restaurants and Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing with an average monthly salary of 315 and 348 leva, respectively.

The average monthly salary went up by 95 leva, or 24.4%, in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the year-ago period. The increase stood at 25.4% and 24.3% in the public and the private sector, respectively.

The salary in the budget sector rose by 93 leva, or 23.1%.