16/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to figures published by Eurostat on 16 December, the total hourly cost of labour in the eurozone rose by 3.5% in nominal terms in the third quarter of 2002 on the third quarter of 2001 and by 3.6% over the second quarter of 2002. In EU15, the rise in labour costs was also of 3.5% in the second quarter of 2002, compared with 3.6% in the previous quarter. Portugal (2.3%) recorded the lowest annual rise and the Netherlands (5.5%) the highest. In industry, the hourly cost of labour increased by 3.1% in the eurozone and 3.2% in the EU15 with Italy (0.9%) registering the lowest annual rise and the Netherlands (5.4%) the highest. The lowest rise in pay (which covers most of the total labour costs) was recorded in Germany (2.8%) and the highest in the Netherlands (5.5%).