Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA17) rose by 1.6% in the year up to the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1.3% for the fourth quarter of 2012. In the EU27, the annual rise was 1.9% up to the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1.3% in the previous quarter. 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 1.7% and the non-wage component by 1.4% in the year up to the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1.4% and 0.9% respectively for the previous quarter. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.0% and the non-wage component by 1.9% in the year up to the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1.2% and 1.3% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2012.

Breakdown by economic activity

In the euro area, hourly labour costs rose by 3.3% in industry, 1.8% in construction, 1.3% in services and 0.9% in the mainly non-business economy in the year up to the first quarter of 2013. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 3.4% in industry, 1.7% in both construction and services and by 1.4% in the mainly non-business economy.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2013, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+8.6%) and Estonia (+7.5%). Decreases were recorded in Slovenia (-3.8%), Spain (-0.7%), Cyprus (-0.5%) and Portugal (-0.3%).