Total hourly labour costs in the whole economy of the euro-zone grew by 3.5% in nominal terms in the third quarter of 2002 compared to the third quarter of 2001, Eurostat - Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg - reported yesterday. In the second quarter of 2002 the increase was 3.6%. For the EU15 the rise was also 3.5% in the third quarter of 2002, compared to 3.6% in the previous quarter.
Among Member States for which data are available, the smallest annual rise was in Portugal (2.3%) and the biggest in the Netherlands (5.5%).
In industry, hourly labour costs rose by 3.1% in the euro-zone and by 3.2% in the EU15. Among Member States for which data are available, the smallest annual increase in costs was in Italy (0.9%), while the biggest increase was registered in the Netherlands (5.4%).
A breakdown by labour cost components shows how wages and other labour costs affect the change in the quarterly total labour cost figure. For the third quarter 2002, among Member States for which data are available, the smallest increase in wages, which cover most of the total labour costs, was in Germany (2.8%), and the biggest in the Netherlands (5.5%).
(source: Eurostat)
