Hourly labour costs in the euro area (EA17) rose by 2.8% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 2.6% for the previous quarter. In the EU27, the annual rise was 2.7% up to the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 2.6% for the previous quarter.

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 2.5% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2011, and the non-wage component by 3.5%, compared with 2.4% and 3.1% respectively for the third quarter of 2011. In the EU27, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.6% and the non-wage component by 3.5% in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 2.5% and 3.2% respectively for the third quarter of 2011.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose by 3.3% in industry and 2.6% in both construction and services in the year up to the fourth quarter of 2011. In the EU27, labour costs per hour grew by 3.2% in industry, 2.7% in construction and 2.5% in services.

Over the whole year 2011, hourly labour costs increased by 2.8% in the euro area and by 2.7% in the EU27, compared with 1.5% and 1.7% respectively in 2010.

Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available for the fourth quarter of 2011, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs were registered in Bulgaria (+12.6%), Romania (+8.6%), Estonia (+7.2%) and Hungary (+6.6%). Decreases were recorded in Ireland and Portugal (both -1.7%) and Slovenia (-0.3%).