Total hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA15) rose by 3.3% in nominal terms in the year up to the first quarter of 2008, compared with 2.9% for the previous quarter. In the EU27, the annual rise was 4.3% up to the first quarter of 2008, compared with 3.6% for the previous quarter.

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries grew by 3.7% in the year up to the first quarter of 2008, and non-wage costs by 2.3%, compared with 3.2% and 2.0% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2007. In the EU27, wages & salaries rose by 4.7% and the non-wage component by 3.1%. For the previous quarter the corresponding rates were 3.9% and 2.7%.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose at an annual rate of 3.7% in industry, 4.0% in construction and 3.0% in services up to the first quarter of 2008. In the EU27, labour costs grew by 4.7% in industry, 5.0% in construction and 4.0% in services.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2008 the smallest annual increase in hourly labour cost was observed in Germany (1.6%). The highest annual rises were registered in Latvia (33.3%) and Lithuania (26.2%).