Total hourly labour costs in the euro area1 rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2006, up from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter2.
In the EU253 the annual rise was 2.4 percent in the first quarter of 2006, down from 2.5 percent in the previous quarter2.
The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries, and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages and salaries grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2006, and non-wage costs by 1.2 percent, compared to 2.0 percent and 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005.
In the EU25, wages and salaries rose by 2.7 percent and the non-wage component by 1.6 percent. In the previous quarter the corresponding rates were 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent.
A breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour costs rose at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in industry, 2.1 percent in construction and 2.0 percent in services in the first quarter of 2006.
In the EU25, labour costs grew by 2.4 percent in industry and by 2.3 percent in both construction and services.
These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
Member States Among the Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2006, the smallest annual increases were recorded in the Netherlands (0.1 percent), Sweden (0.4 percent), Germany (0.6 percent) and Malta (0.7 percent) while the highest annual rises were found in Latvia (19.0 percent), Estonia (14.9 percent), Lithuania (13.2 percent) and Slovakia (7.5 percent).
Annual growth in the wages and salaries component ranged from 0.8 percent in the Netherlands to 18.7 percent in Latvia. The range for non-wage costs was from -3.4 percent in Sweden to 18.5 percent in Latvia.
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