OREANDA-NEWS. Hourly labour costs rose by 1.1% in the euro area (EA19) and by 1.8% in the EU28 in the third quarter of 2015, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the second quarter of 2015, hourly labour costs increased by 1.6% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU28. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 1.4% and the non-wage component by 0.1%, in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the second quarter of 2015, the annual changes were +2.0% for wages & salaries and +0.3% for non-wage costs. In the EU28. hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.0% and the non-wage component by 1.1% for the third quarter of 2015. In the second quarter of 2015, annual changes were +2.2% and +1.1% respectively.

Breakdown by economic activity

In the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 1.3% in industry, by 0.8% in construction, by 1.2% in services and by 0.8% in the (mainly) nonbusiness economy. In the EU28. labour costs per hour grew by 1.6% in industry, by 2.3% in construction, by 2.0% in services and by 1.5% in the (mainly) non-business economy in the third quarter.

Member States

In the third quarter of 2015, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Latvia and Bulgaria (both +7.4%), Romania (+7.3%), Estonia (+6.1%) and Lithuania (+5.7%). Decreases were recorded in Portugal (-2.8%), Slovenia (-1.5%), Cyprus (-0.5%). Italy and Luxembourg (both -0.4%).