Hourly labour costs in the euro area1 (EA16) rose by 2.2% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 3.0% for the previous quarter2. In the EU271, the annual rise was 2.4% up to the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 2.9% for the previous quarter2.

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% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2009, and the non-wage component by 2.7%, compared with 2.8% and 3.5% respectively for the third quarter of 2009. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.2% and the non-wage component by 3.0% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 2.8% and 3.5% respectively for the previous quarter.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 1.4% in industry, 3.7% in construction and 2.4% in services in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2009. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 1.9% in industry, 3.1% in construction and 2.5% in services.

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

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the fourth quarter of 2009, the highest annual decreases in hourly labour costs were observed in Lithuania (-10.8%), Estonia (-5.8%), Latvia (-5.6%) and Slovenia
(-3.6%). The highest annual increases were registered in Bulgaria (+11.3%), Austria (+6.5%), Poland (+5.7%), the Czech Republic (+5.4%) and Romania (+5.2%).