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Annual growth in labour costs slowed to 0.9% in eurozone and 1.2% in EU-28 in Q1 2014

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major-roadworks-on-clydeside-expressway-711354Hourly labour costs1 rose by 0.9% in the eurozone2 (EA18) and by 1.2% in the EU-282 in the first quarter of 2014, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 20133, hourly labour costs increased by 1.6% in the eurozone and by 1.4% in the EU-28. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs. In the eurozone, wages and salaries per hour worked grew by 1.5% while the non-wage component decreased by 0.8%, in the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2013 the annual increases were 2.0% and 0.4% respectively. In the EU-28, hourly wages and salaries rose by 1.7% while the non-wage component decreased by 0.3% for the first quarter of 2014, compared with +1.7% and +0.4% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2013.

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Breakdown by economic activity

In the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the eurozone rose by 0.7% in industry, by 1.9% in construction, by 1.3% in services and by 0.5% in the (mainly) non-business economy. In the EU-28, labour costs per hour grew by 1.1% in industry, by 1.9% in construction, by 1.6% in services and by 0.6% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

Member states

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Among the Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2014, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Latvia(+7.0%), Estonia (+6.8%), Romania (+5.3%) and Poland (+4.2%). Decreases were recorded in Cyprus (-6.9%), Croatia(-1.7%), Ireland (-0.2%) and Italy
(-0.1%).

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*     Not working day adjusted

  1. The Labour Cost Index is a short-term indicator showing the development of hourly labour costs incurred by employers. It is calculated dividing the labour cost in national currency by the number of hours worked. Therefore, the development of both variables, labour costs and hours worked, affects the evolution of the index.

The quarterly changes in hourly employers’ costs are measured for total labour costs and the main components: wages and salaries; and labour costs other than wages and salaries (non-wage costs). Total labour costs (TOT) cover wage and non-wage costs less subsidies. They do not include vocational training costs or other expenditures such as recruitment costs, spending on working clothes, etc.

Wage and salary costs (WAG) include direct remuneration, bonuses, and allowances paid by an employer in cash or in kind to an employee in return for work done, payments to employees saving schemes, payments for days not worked and remuneration in kind such as food, drink, fuel, company cars, etc.

Labour costs other than wages and salaries (OTH - non-wage costs) include the employers’ social contributions plus employment taxes regarded as labour costs less subsidies intended to refund part or all of the employer’s cost of direct remuneration.

Eurostat publishes Labour Cost Index data for NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S. The aggregate is referred to as whole economy for the sake of simplification, even if agriculture, activities of households as employers and activities of extraterritorial organisations are excluded. For more breakdowns and further definitions please click here.

  1. The eurozone (EA-18) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The European Union (EU-28) includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Croatia (HR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

  1. Compared with News Release 43/2014 of 19 March 2014, annual growth rates for the total economy for the fourth quarter of 2013 were revised from +1.4% to +1.6% for the EA18 and from +1.2% to +1.4% for the EU-28.

Nominal hourly labour costs

% change compared with same quarter of previous year – working day adjusted

  Whole economy
(NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S)
Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014
TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER
EA-18 2.1 2.2 1.8 1.2 1.5 0.5 1.2 1.4 0.7 1.6 2.0 0.4 0.9 1.5 -0.8
EU-28 2.3 2.3 2.2 1.2 1.4 0.6 1.2 1.3 0.6 1.4 1.7 0.4 1.2 1.7 -0.3
Belgium 2.5 2.7 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.5 0.8 0.8 0.8
Bulgaria 8.7 9.2 7.4 8.6 8.6 7.1 7.1 7.2 6.4 8.4 8.7 7.0 3.6 2.8 7.5
Czech Republic* 5.4 5.5 5.4 1.5 1.5 1.4 -2.9 -2.9 -2.9 0.2 0.1 0.3 2.2 2.2 2.3
Denmark 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.2 0.8 0.7 1.3 0.9 0.9 0.6 c c c
Germany 4.2 3.8 5.4 1.8 2.0 0.9 1.8 2.0 1.0 2.2 2.4 1.5 1.1 2.3 -3.0
Estonia 7.9 8.1 7.4 7.6 7.8 7.0 7.7 8.1 6.7 7.2 7.7 6.0 6.8 7.0 6.2
Ireland 0.1 0.4 -0.4 0.6 0.4 1.2 -1.6 -1.3 -3.9 0.7 0.2 5.0 -0.2 -0.3 -1.3
Greece -9.1 -10.0 -7.1 -8.4 -7.7 -10.7 -2.0 c c : : : : : :
Spain -0.8 -1.5 0.7 -0.4 -0.7 0.5 0.5 -0.1 2.1 3.1 3.7 1.2 0.5 0.6 0.4
France 0.3 1.6 -2.5 0.6 1.9 -2.2 0.5 1.7 -1.9 0.4 1.7 -2.0 1.2 1.8 -0.1
Croatia* 4.1 4.1 4.1 -0.6 -0.6 -0.6 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 -1.7 -1.7 -1.7
Italy 2.8 2.7 3.0 1.4 1.2 2.0 0.9 0.7 1.4 1.6 1.3 2.4 -0.1 -0.2 0.2
Cyprus -1.3 -2.0 2.4 -5.5 -6.0 -2.7 -6.8 -7.0 -6.0 -7.1 -7.3 -5.6 -6.9 -7.9 -1.2
Latvia 4.8 4.6 5.5 4.2 4.3 4.0 5.8 5.4 6.7 5.9 5.7 6.6 7.0 7.7 4.0
Lithuania 6.7 6.3 7.6 5.7 5.2 7.1 6.7 6.4 7.4 5.0 5.1 5.0 3.6 3.6 3.4
Luxembourg 5.2 5.1 5.1 2.5 2.5 2.5 1.7 1.8 1.5 2.9 3.0 2.5 2.8 3.0 1.6
Hungary 3.3 5.3 -3.4 1.7 3.5 -4.3 1.0 2.9 -5.3 2.2 4.3 -4.7 3.4 3.1 4.1
Malta* 5.3 5.7 1.2 1.7 2.0 -1.5 3.0 3.2 1.4 0.2 0.5 -2.5 1.5 1.7 -0.2
Netherlands 2.5 1.9 4.7 2.6 1.9 4.9 2.8 1.8 6.3 1.7 2.9 -2.6 0.7 0.9 -0.2
Austria* 4.9 4.4 6.7 2.1 1.9 3.0 3.9 3.7 4.5 2.1 1.9 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.9
Poland 3.6 3.5 3.9 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.2 3.6 6.7
Portugal -1.5 -1.3 -2.1 1.8 1.2 4.1 0.2 -1.2 5.1 0.5 -0.5 3.8 1.5 0.9 3.6
Romania 8.5 8.5 8.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 4.2 4.2 4.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 5.3 5.3 5.3
Slovenia -3.8 -3.8 -3.7 -5.9 -5.9 -5.9 -0.6 -0.5 -1.6 2.2 2.2 1.7 2.5 3.0 -0.3
Slovakia 5.6 4.8 8.6 3.9 3.0 6.6 2.3 1.7 4.6 2.3 0.8 6.7 3.3 3.5 2.8
Finland 2.7 3.5 2.4 1.4 1.8 0.7 0.8 1.4 0.6 1.6 1.9 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.9
Sweden 2.4 2.6 2.0 1.8 2.1 1.3 1.9 2.2 1.2 1.8 2.1 1.0 2.6 2.8 2.1
United Kingdom 1.9 1.4 4.0 0.8 0.8 1.4 0.4 0.5 -0.4 0.5 0.6 0.1 1.6 2.0 0.2

Labour cost data are subject to revision, in particular for the latest quarters, when new source data become available.

: Data not available                    * Not working day adjusted                              c Confidential

TOTAL = total labour costs       WAGES = wage and salary costs         OTHER = non-wage costs


Nominal hourly labour costs for the business / mainly non-business economy

% change compared with same quarter of previous year – working day adjusted

  Business economy
(NACE Rev. 2 section B to N)		 Mainly non-business economy
(NACE Rev. 2 section O to S)
Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1 2014 Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1 2014
TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH
EA-18 2.1 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.7 -0.5 2.0 1.1 1.4 2.5 0.5 1.1 -1.3
EU-28 2.3 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.5 1.9 0.0 2.2 1.0 1.2 2.0 0.6 1.1 -0.8
Belgium 2.4 2.0 1.9 1.4 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.3
Bulgaria 8.7 8.6 7.4 9.0 2.8 2.0 7.1 8.8 8.4 6.1 6.5 6.6 6.1 9.0
Czech Republic* 5.1 1.6 -2.5 -0.2 2.9 2.9 2.9 6.6 1.0 -4.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Denmark 1.2 1.8 1.2 1.4 c c c 0.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 c c c
Germany 4.2 1.4 1.2 1.8 1.1 2.2 -2.9 4.0 2.7 3.3 3.2 0.9 2.4 -3.2
Estonia 8.0 9.0 7.8 6.7 6.4 6.6 5.9 7.5 3.9 7.8 8.8 8.1 8.3 7.5
Ireland 0.1 0.9 -1.0 2.0 1.3 1.5 -1.8 0.0 0.1 -2.6 -1.8 -3.0 -3.4 0.3
Greece -11.1 -7.8 -3.5 : : : : -5.8 -9.6 0.4 : : : :
Spain -0.1 0.2 1.1 -0.1 0.0 0.1 -0.2 -2.4 -2.0 -1.1 10.9 2.0 1.9 2.0
France -0.1 0.4 0.4 0.3 1.6 2.3 0.1 1.2 1.2 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.7 -0.4
Croatia* 5.4 0.7 1.4 1.0 -2.1 -2.1 -2.1 1.9 -2.8 -1.9 -1.2 -1.0 -1.0 -1.0
Italy 2.9 2.3 1.7 2.3 0.7 0.4 1.4 2.5 -0.3 -0.6 0.3 -1.5 -1.4 -1.8
Cyprus 1.2 -4.3 -5.5 -6.2 -6.4 -7.0 -3.2 -6.4 -7.8 -9.4 -8.8 -7.6 -9.5 3.8
Latvia 4.7 3.9 4.9 5.4 7.0 7.8 3.9 4.7 4.9 7.7 7.0 6.4 6.9 3.4
Lithuania 7.7 7.3 7.9 6.0 4.0 4.1 3.9 4.2 2.5 5.1 2.8 2.3 2.4 2.0
Luxembourg 5.8 2.6 1.8 2.9 2.9 3.1 1.3 3.3 2.2 1.2 3.0 2.6 2.6 2.5
Hungary 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.6 4.7 4.5 5.4 7.3 1.7 -1.2 3.8 0.2 -0.2 1.3
Malta* 6.4 2.4 1.9 -1.2 -0.3 -0.2 -2.0 3.3 0.3 4.4 3.1 5.1 5.7 1.6
Netherlands 3.0 3.1 3.1 2.3 0.1 0.3 -0.5 1.4 1.7 2.0 0.5 1.9 2.5 0.3
Austria* 4.1 2.1 3.8 2.0 3.5 3.6 3.3 7.3 2.4 4.3 2.2 1.4 1.2 1.8
Poland 3.6 1.9 2.8 5.1 5.0 4.3 8.0 3.5 2.3 1.0 0.0 2.1 1.8 3.2
Portugal -1.6 1.3 -1.5 -5.2 5.8 4.7 9.8 -1.3 2.5 2.5 9.7 -4.5 -4.8 -3.5
Romania 5.5 3.4 2.9 3.0 6.2 6.3 6.2 19.3 15.1 8.5 4.0 2.4 2.4 2.4
Slovenia -1.8 -5.7 0.7 2.5 2.7 3.4 -2.2 -8.2 -6.3 -3.6 1.5 2.1 1.8 4.2
Slovakia 4.9 3.6 1.9 1.7 3.6 3.9 2.7 7.6 4.5 3.4 3.8 2.6 2.4 3.2
Finland 3.2 1.5 0.4 1.7 1.5 1.4 2.5 2.0 1.3 1.4 1.6 0.8 0.8 1.2
Sweden 2.1 1.8 1.7 1.6 2.9 3.1 2.4 3.1 1.9 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.2 1.6
United Kingdom 1.9 1.1 0.6 0.5 2.0 2.3 0.1 1.8 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.4 1.0 0.2

Labour cost data are subject to revision, in particular for the latest quarters, when new source data become available.

: Data not available                    * Not working day adjusted                              c Confidential

TOT = total labour costs           WAG = wage and salary costs         OTH = non-wage costs


Nominal hourly labour costs by main economic activity branches for the business economy

% change compared with same quarter of previous year – working day adjusted

  Industry
(NACE Rev. 2 sections B to E)		 Construction
(NACE Rev. 2 section F)		 Services
(NACE Rev. 2 section G to N)
Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1 2014 Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1 2014 Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1 2014
TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH
EA-18 3.3 1.8 1.6 1.6 0.7 1.3 -1.3 1.6 0.9 0.0 1.2 1.9 2.5 0.2 1.6 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.7 -0.2
EU-28 3.3 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.1 1.7 -0.9 1.5 0.5 0.0 1.2 1.9 2.5 0.2 2.0 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.6 1.9 0.3
Belgium 2.4 1.8 1.4 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 2.7 2.4 2.1 1.8 1.3 1.1 1.3 2.3 2.0 2.1 1.5 0.9 0.9 0.8
Bulgaria 5.1 4.4 4.1 4.7 5.1 4.7 8.3 1.6 4.9 3.4 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.2 11.7 11.4 9.8 12.0 1.3 0.4 6.8
Czech Republic* 5.2 1.7 -1.7 2.0 4.4 4.4 4.4 5.4 2.7 -2.4 -6.2 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 4.9 1.4 -3.1 -1.0 2.1 2.1 2.1
Denmark 1.8 2.0 2.1 2.2 c c c -1.3 -0.8 -0.1 -0.6 c c c 1.3 1.9 1.0 1.3 c c c
Germany 5.5 1.7 2.3 2.1 0.4 1.5 -3.6 1.7 -1.3 -1.9 2.5 2.4 3.5 -1.3 3.7 1.6 0.7 1.4 1.5 2.6 -2.6
Estonia 8.7 6.8 8.4 7.9 5.5 6.0 4.1 10.7 12.3 10.6 2.2 5.1 5.2 4.7 7.1 9.7 7.0 6.9 7.1 7.2 7.0
Ireland -2.9 0.1 -2.3 1.3 1.3 1.7 -3.0 -0.9 6.2 -4.1 3.0 5.4 5.4 6.4 1.4 0.7 -0.3 2.1 1.0 1.1 -1.8
Greece -5.9 -4.9 -5.1 : : : : -6.1 -7.3 -6.1 : : : : -12.8 -8.5 -2.9 : : : :
Spain 2.0 1.0 1.6 0.3 -0.1 0.4 -1.6 0.2 1.2 -1.0 -0.4 -0.1 -0.5 0.9 -1.0 -0.2 1.1 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.1
France 0.2 0.9 1.0 0.4 1.6 2.3 0.0 -0.4 -0.4 0.3 0.1 1.7 2.4 -0.2 -0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.7 2.3 0.1
Croatia* 6.4 1.5 2.4 0.8 -1.9 -1.9 -1.9 6.5 2.6 3.6 1.5 -4.1 -4.1 -4.1 4.7 0.0 0.6 1.1 -1.9 -1.9 -1.9
Italy 2.5 2.0 1.3 2.3 0.0 0.0 -0.1 4.8 4.2 1.2 2.4 3.4 2.7 5.0 3.0 2.2 2.0 2.2 0.9 0.5 1.9
Cyprus -1.2 -5.2 -3.7 -4.6 -3.3 -4.2 1.2 -5.2 -4.7 -6.0 -9.1 -3.4 -4.6 5.0 2.5 -4.1 -5.6 -6.2 -7.5 -8.0 -4.8
Latvia 5.0 4.6 5.1 5.9 6.0 6.8 3.2 5.9 7.0 5.0 7.7 7.9 9.3 3.0 4.4 3.4 4.8 4.9 7.2 7.9 4.3
Lithuania 5.5 5.2 6.9 5.3 2.7 2.9 2.2 16.3 15.0 12.6 13.7 4.3 3.4 6.2 7.3 7.1 7.6 5.0 4.6 4.8 4.2
Luxembourg 3.3 3.7 0.9 1.7 1.3 1.4 0.9 5.7 2.2 2.0 2.6 -0.5 0.3 -5.8 6.3 2.5 2.0 3.1 3.6 3.8 2.6
Hungary 2.6 1.7 2.2 2.5 4.1 3.9 4.5 5.0 5.4 7.8 8.3 -2.3 -2.5 -2.6 0.9 1.5 1.2 0.4 5.8 5.6 6.6
Malta* 7.2 1.5 2.0 -4.5 -4.2 -3.9 -8.6 -4.2 2.2 3.8 -5.1 4.1 4.3 2.1 7.2 2.8 1.8 0.3 0.6 0.7 -0.1
Netherlands 3.9 3.9 3.2 3.6 c c c 2.4 3.5 4.0 0.9 c c c 2.8 2.7 3.0 2.1 c c c
Austria* 4.8 3.2 1.4 1.9 2.9 3.0 2.6 4.4 2.1 2.1 1.1 3.3 4.1 0.7 3.7 1.4 5.3 2.2 3.9 3.8 4.1
Poland 4.4 2.0 2.9 3.8 5.2 4.0 10.7 0.0 0.9 0.7 7.7 3.2 3.0 4.1 3.6 2.1 3.1 6.0 5.2 4.8 6.6
Portugal -2.4 0.9 -3.6 -4.6 4.3 2.9 10.1 1.0 5.0 1.5 -0.1 5.7 5.4 6.5 -1.6 0.8 -0.8 -6.6 6.7 5.7 10.4
Romania 6.9 5.0 3.7 4.5 6.8 6.8 6.8 1.6 3.6 3.4 3.6 -1.7 -1.7 -1.7 5.0 2.2 2.3 1.7 7.1 7.1 7.1
Slovenia 3.6 -5.6 0.3 3.9 2.9 3.8 -2.5 -4.1 -3.6 -1.0 -2.0 -3.3 -2.6 -7.5 -5.2 -6.0 1.2 2.0 3.3 4.0 -1.2
Slovakia 8.1 5.9 4.8 3.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.0 1.9 -1.3 -0.5 -8.0 -8.2 -7.5 3.0 2.1 0.1 0.7 6.5 7.1 4.8
Finland 3.1 1.2 -0.7 0.1 1.3 -0.2 2.0 7.2 3.5 1.5 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.7 1.4 1.0 2.5 1.5 c c
Sweden 1.3 2.8 1.1 1.0 2.9 3.0 2.7 3.1 1.0 2.3 1.6 2.7 3.1 1.7 2.2 1.5 1.9 1.8 2.9 3.2 2.3
United Kingdom 2.6 0.7 -0.1 -0.3 1.6 2.8 -4.4 -0.2 -2.1 -1.5 1.2 2.2 3.1 -1.2 1.9 1.5 1.0 0.7 2.0 2.1 1.4

Labour cost data are subject to revision, in particular for the latest quarters, when new source data become available.

: Data not available                    * Not working day adjusted                              c Confidential

TOT = total labour costs           WAG = wage and salary costs         OTH = non-wage costs

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