Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA17) rose by 2.7% in the year up to the third quarter of 2011, compared with 3.3% for the previous quarter. In the EU27, the annual rise was 2.6% up to the third quarter of 2011, compared with 3.2% 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 2.6% in the year up to the third quarter of 2011, and the non-wage component by 3.2%, compared with 3.2% and 3.8% respectively for the second quarter of 2011. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.6% and the non-wage component by 3.2% in the year up to the third quarter of 2011, compared with 3.1% and 3.6% respectively for the second quarter of 2011.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 2.9% in industry, 2.4% in construction and 2.6% in services in the year up to the third quarter of 2011. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 2.9% in industry, 2.2% in construction and 2.6% in services.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the third quarter of 2011, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs were registered in Bulgaria (+9.8%), Romania (+7.9%) and Slovakia (+7.2%), and the smallest increases in Portugal (+0.8%) and Cyprus (+1.4%). A decrease was observed in Ireland (-1.1%)