Malta’s hourly labour cost rises by 2.4%

Eurostat figures published on Monday show how hourly labour costs in the Euro area (EA17) rose by 2.6% in the year up to the first quarter of 2011, compared with 1.5% for the previous quarter.

Across the European Union (EU27), the annual rise was 2.7% up to the first quarter of 2011, compared with 1.8% for the previous quarter.

Malta’s hourly labour cost increase was of 2.4%, slightly less than the increases of both the Euro area (2.6%) and the European Union (2.7%).

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs.

In the Eurozone, wages & salaries per hour worked rose by 2.3% while the non-wage component by increased 3.6%, compared with 1.4% and 1.8% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2010.

In the European Union, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.6% while the non-wage component by also increased 3.5%, compared with 1.9% and 1.5% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2010.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 2.8% in industry and by 2.5% in both construction and services in the year up to the first quarter of 2011.

In the European Union, labour costs per hour grew by 3.1% in industry, 2.3% in construction and 2.6% in services.

The Labour Cost Index shows the development of hourly labour costs incurred by employers.