The FINANCIAL — Hourly labour costs rose by 1.8% in the euro area (EA19) and by 2.2% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2017, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
In the first quarter of 2017, hourly labour costs increased by 1.4% and 1.6% respectively. 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 2.0% and the non-wage component by 0.8%, in the second quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2017, the annual changes were +1.3% and +1.6% respectively. In the EU28, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.4% and the non-wage component by 1.6% in the second quarter of 2017. In the first quarter of 2017, annual changes were +1.5% and +1.9% respectively.
Breakdown by economic activity
In the second quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 1.5% in industry, by 2.0% in construction, by 2.1% in services and by 1.4% in the (mainly) non- business economy. In the EU28, labour costs per hour grew by 2.2% in industry, by 1.6% in construction, by 2.7% in services and by 1.7% in the (mainly) non-business economy.
Member States
In the second quarter of 2017, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+18.6%), Hungary (+13.0%), the Czech Republic (+11.1%), Bulgaria (+11.0%) and Lithuania (+10.4%). A decrease was recorded in Finland (-0.3%).
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