Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA16) rose by 1.6% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 1.9% for the previous quarter. This is the lowest increase registered since the start of the series in 2000. In the EU27, the annual rise was 1.6% up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 2.1% 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 1.5% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, and the non-wage component by 2.0%, compared with 1.8% and 2.2% respectively for the first quarter of 2010. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 1.5% and the non-wage component by 1.7% in the year up to the second quarter of 2010, compared with 2.2% and 1.7% respectively for the previous quarter.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 1.1% in industry, 1.7% in construction and 1.9% in services in the year up to the second quarter of 2010. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 1.1% in both industry and construction, and 1.8% 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 second quarter of 2010, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs were registered in Bulgaria (+8.6%) and Romania (+5.0%). The highest annual decreases were observed in Lithuania (-7.0%), Latvia (-5.8%) and Estonia (-2.6%).