Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA16) rose by 1.6% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 1.9% for the previous quarter. This is the lowest increase registered since the start of the series in 2000. In the EU27, the annual rise was 1.6% up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 2.1% for the previous quarter.

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 1.5% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, and the non-wage component by 2.0%, compared with 1.8% and 2.2% respectively for the first quarter of 2010. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 1.5% and the non-wage component by 1.7% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 2.2% and 1.7% respectively for the previous quarter.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 1.1% in industry, 1.7% in construction and 1.9% in services in the year up to the second quarter of 2010. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 1.1% in both industry and construction, and 1.8% in services.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2010, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs were registered in Bulgaria (+8.6%) and Romania (+5.0%). The highest annual decreases were observed in Lithuania (-7.0%), Latvia (-5.8%) and Estonia (-2.6%). Malta stood at 1.6%.

These figures were published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

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