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Hourly labor cost up 2.6% during Q4 2018

20/03/2019 10:37

Hourly labour cost rose by 2.3% in the euro area (EA19), by 2.8% in the EU28, by 2.6% in Cyprus and by 2.5% in Greece, in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the third quarter of 2018, hourly labour cost increased by 2.5%, 2.6%, 3.3% and 1.9% respectively, according to 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, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.3% and the non-wage component by 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the third quarter of 2018, the annual changes were +2.3% and +2.9% respectively. In the EU28, the costs of hourly wages & salaries rose by 3.0% and the non-wage component rose by 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2018. In the third quarter of 2018, annual changes were +2.7% and +2.4% respectively.

In Cyprus the wage component grew by 2.7% and the non-wage component by 2.2%. In Greece wages grew by 1.8% and the non-wage component by 4.6%.

In the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 1.9% in industry, by 2.4% in construction, by 2.5% in services and by 2.4% in the (mainly) nonbusiness economy. In the EU28, labour costs per hour grew by 2.4% in industry, by 2.8% in construction and in services, and by 3.0% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+13.1%), Latvia (+11.8%), Portugal (+10.3%), and Lithuania (+10.2%), while the only decrease was recorded in Malta (-0.5%).

In Cyprus total wage cost grew by 2.4% in the business and by 2.1% in the non-business economy compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In Greece the two sectors recorded an increase of 2.8% and 2.2%.