Brussels, 15/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - In the second quarter of 2008 the hourly cost of labour in the euro area increased at an annual rate of 2.7%, compared with 3.5% in the preceding quarter. According to data published on Monday 15 September by Eurostat, the annual rise in the EU 27 was 3.4% in the second quarter of 2008, compared to 4.4% in the first quarter. The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages and salaries increased at an annual rate of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2008 and non-wage costs increased at a rate of 2.2%, compared to 3.7% and 2.7% respectively in the first quarter of 2008. In the EU27, wages and salaries have seen a rise of 3.6% and non-wage costs rose by 2.6%. In the preceding quarter the corresponding rates were 4.7% and 3.3%.
The breakdown by economic activity shows that, in the euro area, the hourly labour costs rose in the second quarter of 2008 by an annual rate of 3.0% in industry, 3.8% in construction and 2.3% in services. In the EU27, labour costs grew by 3.8% in industry, 4.6% in construction and 3.0% in services.
The lowest annual increase in labour costs was seen in Germany (0.7%). The largest increases were observed in Latvia (24.8%) and Romania (23.0%). (A.B./transl.fl)