19/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Hourly labour costs up by 2.2% in euro area. On Thursday 18 June, the EU's statistical office (Eurostat) noted that hourly labour costs rose by 2.2% in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU in the first quarter of 2015. In the euro area, these costs rose by 2.5% in industry (2.6% in the EU), by 1.5% in construction (1.8% in the EU), by 2.3% in services and by 1.9% in the mainly non-business economy (2.1% in the EU). In the first quarter of 2015, the highest annual increases were recorded in Latvia (+7.3%), in Romania (+7.1%), in Bulgaria (+6.9%), in Lithuania (+5.9%) and in Estonia (+5%). A decrease was recorded in Cyprus (-1.8%). (JK)