Euro area and EU27 hourly labour costs up by 1.3%

Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA17) rose by 1.3% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 1.8% for the third quarter of 2012. In the EU27, the annual rise was also 1.3% up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 1.8% 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 1.4% and the non-wage component by 1.0% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 2.0% and 1.4% respectively for the previous quarter. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 1.4% and the non-wage component by 1.2% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 1.9% and 1.7% respectively for the third quarter of 2012.

Hourly labour costs for the business economy rose by 1.9% in the euro area in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 2.2% for the third quarter. In the EU27, the annual rise was 2.1% for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 2.3% for the previous quarter.

Hourly labour costs for the mainly non-business economy remained stable in the euro area in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with +0.9% for the third quarter. In the EU27, hourly labour costs fell by 0.4% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with +0.8% for the previous quarter.

A breakdown of the business economy by economic activity shows that in the euro area, hourly labour costs rose by 2.5% in industry, 2.1% in construction and 1.5% in services in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2012. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 2.6% in industry, 1.2% in construction and 2.0% in services.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the fourth quarter of 2012, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+7.6%) and Estonia (+6.7%), and the smallest in Cyprus and Malta (both +0.5%) and Italy (+0.6%). Decreases were recorded in Spain (-3.4%) and Slovenia (-2.1%).

In the business economy, the highest growth rates in the year up to the fourth quarter 2012 were observed in Estonia (+7.1%) and Hungary (+6.5%). Decreases were recorded in Malta (-0.9%) and Slovenia (-0.7%).

In the mainly non-business economy, the highest increases in the year up to the fourth quarter 2012 were recorded in Romania (+14.1%), Austria (+5.6%) and Estonia (+5.1%). Decreases were observed in Spain (-11.5%), Slovenia (-5.3%), the United Kingdom (-4.0%), the Czech Republic and Italy (both -0.5%) and Ireland (-0.3%).