STAT/07/176 13 December 2007
Third quarter 2007 compared to third quarter 2006 Euro area labour cost rose by 2.5% EU27 up by 3.7%
Total hourly labour cost in the euro area1 (EA13) rose at an annual rate of 2.5% in nominal terms up to the third quarter of 2007, compared with 2.4% for the previous quarter2. In the EU271, the annual rise was 3.7% up to the third quarter of 2007, compared with 3.3% for the previous quarter2.
The two main components of labour cost are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries grew at an annual rate of 2.5% up to the third quarter of 2007, and non-wage costs by 2.2%, compared with 2.5% and 1.8% respectively for the second quarter of 2007. In the EU27, wages & salaries rose by 3.8% and the non-wage component by 3.1%. For the previous quarter the corresponding rates were 3.5% and 2.6%.
A breakdown by economic activity shows that in the euro area hourly labour cost rose at an annual rate of 2.5% in industry, 3.0% in construction and 2.4% in services up to the third quarter of 2007. In the EU27, labour cost grew by 3.4% in industry, 5.3% in construction and 3.6% in services.
These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
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Member States
Among the Member States for which data are available for the third quarter of 2007 the smallest annual increases in hourly labour cost were observed in Germany (0.9%) and Finland (1.9%). The highest annual rises were registered in Latvia (30.0%), Romania (23.2%), Estonia (20.6%) and Lithuania (20.1%).
Annual growth in the wages & salaries component ranged from 1.5% in Germany to 29.9% in Latvia. The range for non-wage costs was from -1.0% in Germany to 28.9% in Latvia.
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From 1 January 2007 the euro area (EA13) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), 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).
Revised data. The estimate for the second quarter 2007, published in News Release 124/2007 of 12 September 2007, was +2.5% for the euro area and +3.2% for the EU27. Data for Q3 2007 for Ireland and Malta, as well as recent data for Italy, are provisional and not published. These data have, however, been included in the calculation of aggregates for the euro area and the EU.Labour Cost Index
The Labour Cost Index is a short-term indicator showing the development of hourly labour cost incurred by employers as a result of engaging the labour work force. The quarterly changes in employers’ costs are measured for the total labour cost and its main components wages and salaries, and labour costs other than wages and salaries (non-wage costs).
Total Labour Cost (TOT) covers wage and non-wage costs less subsidies. It does not include vocational training costs or other expenditures such as recruitment costs, spending on working clothes, etc.
Wage and salary costs (WAG) include direct remunerations, 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 remunerations 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 cost less subsidies intended to refund part or all of the employer’s cost of direct remuneration. The labour cost index covers the following economic activities:
-Industry (NACE sectors C to E); C Mining and quarrying, D Manufacturing, E Electricity, gas, water supply.
-Construction (NACE sector F).
-Services (NACE sectors G to K); G Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, personal and household goods, H Hotels and restaurants, I Transport, storage, communication, J Financial intermediation, K Real estate, renting, business activities.
Data in the tables are shown as percentage changes compared to the same quarter a year earlier. To eliminate the effects of varying numbers of working days in the same quarters of different years (Easter and other moving holidays) these changes are presented in working day adjusted form. Indices are based on Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Union Labour Cost Index.
The data should not be considered as final as indices transmitted by Member States may be revised at a later date, in which case aggregates are recalculated.
Index levels and quarterly changes are available on the Eurostat internet site.
Other information
Ireland: Irregular bonuses are not included in the measurement of labour cost.
Hungary: The source data relates to private enterprises employing at least 5 persons and government organizations of all size classes.
Finland: Data concerns only full-time employees; the quarterly change in labour cost since the first quarter 2005 has been estimated by the change in earnings for regular working time.
Sweden: Irregular bonuses are not included in the measurement of labour cost. Data cover only the private sector.
Related statistical domains
Information on other earnings and labour cost indicators can be found on the Eurostat internet site under: Data / Population and social conditions / Labour market / Earnings and labour cost.
Issued by: Eurostat Press Office Tim ALLEN Tel: +352-4301-33 444 eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu For further information on data: Hannah KIIVER Tel: +352-4301-38 438 hannah.kiiver@ec.europa.eu Hubertus VREESWIJK Tel: +352-4301-34 323 hubertus.vreeswijk@ec.europa.eu Eurostat news releases on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat Selected Principal European Economic Indicators: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euroindicators Nominal hourly labour cost
% change compared to same quarter of previous year – working day adjusted
Total (NACE sections C to K) Q3 2006 Q4 2006 Q1 2007 Q2 2007 Q3 2007 TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER TOTAL WAGES OTHER EA13 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.0 2.3 2.4 1.9 2.4 2.5 1.8 2.5 2.5 2.2 EU27 3.2 3.4 2.4 2.8 2.9 2.2 3.7 3.9 2.9 3.3 3.5 2.6 3.7 3.8 3.1 BE 2.5 2.7 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.2 3.3 3.3 2.9 2.7 2.8 2.3 4.0 3.3 5.7 BG 6.3 11.3 -9.0 4.6 9.5 -9.6 15.6 17.3 9.5 14.6 16.7 7.3 16.3 17.6 11.5 CZ 5.8 5.5 5.9 5.3 5.4 5.2 8.4 8.1 8.0 7.7 8.3 7.2 8.4 8.7 8.0 DK 3.0 2.3 7.4 2.8 2.2 7.2 3.1 2.7 5.8 3.7 3.4 5.8 3.3 3.1 4.1 DE 2.0 1.5 3.6 1.5 1.1 2.8 0.2 0.6 -1.2 1.1 1.8 -1.1 0.9 1.5 -1.0 EE 17.2 17.3 16.2 18.2 18.9 16.7 21.0 21.2 20.4 18.7 18.8 18.4 20.6 20.5 20.7 IE3 4.7 4.7 4.8 5.1 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.3 4.2 4.7 5.0 c c c EL 10.0 11.4 10.9 3.5 3.7 6.1 10.0 9.3 10.9 5.1 5.7 3.2 2.5 4.2 2.6 ES 3.8 4.2 2.9 4.3 4.5 3.5 3.8 4.1 3.3 3.1 2.7 3.6 4.7 4.2 6.1 FR 3.1 3.3 2.6 3.2 3.4 2.7 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.0 3.2 3.3 2.9 IT3 c c c c c c c c c c c c : : : CY 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.7 5.5 6.5 6.9 7.3 4.9 7.4 8.0 6.0 6.3 7.0 5.0 LV 24.4 24.3 23.9 27.0 26.8 25.8 32.6 32.6 32.8 28.6 29.0 27.1 30.0 29.9 28.9 LT 20.5 20.3 21.0 19.7 20.0 19.1 22.2 22.5 21.3 21.6 21.7 21.3 20.1 20.4 19.2 LU 3.2 3.5 1.7 1.3 1.5 -0.3 3.6 3.9 2.2 3.2 3.2 2.8 3.5 3.6 3.0 HU 9.3 10.3 6.3 12.1 12.5 10.6 10.3 10.5 9.4 11.6 11.9 10.7 9.1 9.3 8.5 MT3 5.1 5.3 2.5 1.7 1.9 -1.4 -0.3 -0.6 2.9 2.6 2.3 6.1 c c c NL 1.0 1.7 0.8 : : : : : : : : : : : : AT 2.6 3.1 0.8 0.9 1.6 -1.3 2.0 2.0 1.9 3.0 3.3 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.4 PL 7.5 7.2 8.6 6.3 5.9 7.8 10.4 10.4 10.3 11.4 11.4 11.4 11.9 11.9 12.0 PT -0.8 -1.1 0.6 3.1 2.8 4.6 3.5 3.3 4.2 3.7 3.5 4.7 3.6 3.6 4.2 RO 18.6 17.2 23.0 20.9 19.5 25.6 25.2 25.3 24.5 24.3 24.2 24.4 23.2 23.2 23.0 SI 3.3 4.1 -0.3 9.3 10.2 5.2 4.5 5.3 0.5 5.6 6.4 2.2 7.2 7.9 3.9 SK 8.3 8.8 7.0 8.6 8.8 7.9 5.9 6.1 5.5 7.9 7.8 8.0 7.1 7.2 7.0 FI 3.1 3.5 1.3 2.5 2.9 0.7 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.4 2.4 2.4 1.9 1.9 1.9 SE 1.8 3.1 -1.0 2.0 3.2 -0.7 3.0 2.5 4.1 2.8 2.4 3.8 2.5 2.5 2.5 UK 4.1 4.7 0.3 3.0 3.2 1.8 6.4 6.7 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.0 5.8 6.0 4.8 c Confidential : Data not available TOTAL = total nominal hourly labour costWAGES = wages and salariesOTHER = non-wage costs
Nominal hourly labour cost by main economic activity branches
% change compared to same quarter of previous year – working day adjusted
Industry (NACE sections C to E) Construction (NACE section F) Services (NACE section G to K) Q3/06 Q4/06 Q1/07 Q2/07 Q3 2007 Q3/06 Q4/06 Q1/07 Q2/07 Q3 2007 Q3/06 Q4/06 Q1/07 Q2/07 Q3 2007 TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH TOT TOT TOT TOT TOT WAG OTH EA13 3.7 2.7 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.0 1.9 2.2 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.5 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.5 2.2 EU27 4.1 3.0 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.5 2.8 3.1 2.8 3.6 3.3 5.3 5.4 5.2 2.8 2.8 3.9 3.4 3.6 3.7 2.9 BE 3.5 2.0 3.1 2.5 4.4 3.4 6.9 3.0 0.1 2.1 2.3 0.7 1.0 0.1 2.0 2.5 3.4 2.7 4.3 3.6 6.3 BG 6.6 5.3 16.4 14.7 15.4 16.8 11.1 0.5 2.1 14.3 20.2 24.2 26.4 17.0 7.0 4.3 15.0 13.7 15.9 17.1 11.0 CZ 5.8 6.1 9.7 6.7 8.3 8.6 8.0 7.0 5.9 8.1 6.2 7.8 7.9 7.7 5.6 4.3 7.1 8.9 8.7 8.9 8.2 DK 3.1 2.6 3.4 3.7 4.1 3.9 5.5 5.7 4.9 4.3 7.3 5.1 4.6 8.1 2.5 2.6 2.8 3.2 2.7 2.5 3.0 DE 4.9 2.8 0.6 2.1 1.4 2.0 -0.7 -3.4 0.8 -2.9 1.1 1.1 1.7 -0.9 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.5 1.0 -1.4 EE 17.5 19.8 22.0 21.9 22.1 22.2 21.9 21.4 20.1 26.4 32.0 30.1 30.1 30.2 16.3 16.8 19.2 13.9 17.3 17.2 17.8 IE3 3.4 3.6 5.4 2.3 c c c 3.1 2.3 5.4 5.0 c c c 5.7 6.5 5.1 c c c c EL 5.2 4.2 15.2 8.9 5.3 5.4 4.6 3.5 14.1 24.1 33.0 -20.9 4.4 9.4 13.8 2.3 6.3 1.5 3.0 3.6 1.1 ES 3.9 4.0 4.5 2.1 3.9 3.3 5.6 4.9 4.1 4.7 4.1 6.0 5.3 7.4 3.7 4.5 3.3 3.2 4.9 4.5 5.9 FR 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.6 3.1 3.2 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.1 3.1 3.2 4.0 3.5 3.4 3.6 3.0 IT3 c c c c : : : c c c c : : : c c c c : : : CY 4.8 6.0 3.8 2.2 5.8 7.2 -0.3 6.2 8.5 1.1 1.3 -1.4 1.0 -16.1 4.8 5.1 8.8 10.0 7.9 8.1 11.1 LV 24.2 24.8 34.5 29.2 28.5 29.1 25.5 35.4 37.0 36.7 33.6 34.9 34.4 36.5 23.2 26.6 31.1 27.6 30.2 29.8 29.8 LT 19.4 18.4 21.0 21.5 22.4 22.8 21.5 32.3 34.4 32.7 31.8 24.4 23.3 27.6 18.6 17.0 19.9 19.0 17.5 18.1 15.9 LU 2.8 2.0 2.1 3.7 4.9 4.9 3.5 2.9 1.5 2.2 3.5 3.2 3.3 3.0 3.4 1.0 4.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 2.8 HU 8.0 8.8 10.9 10.2 8.2 8.3 7.8 12.7 14.1 21.2 20.1 15.9 16.1 15.6 10.1 14.7 8.6 11.8 9.2 9.4 8.4 MT3 8.8 4.0 3.8 4.5 c c c -1.3 -2.6 -5.4 -3.7 c c c 3.9 1.0 -1.9 2.4 c c c NL 1.0 : : : : : : -0.1 : : : : : : 1.2 : : : : : : AT 4.8 1.6 2.9 2.8 1.1 1.1 0.9 3.2 -3.2 0.8 3.5 0.8 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.7 3.1 3.6 3.6 3.6 PL 8.5 8.4 11.1 10.5 11.3 11.3 11.3 12.5 18.5 12.4 15.3 20.4 20.4 20.5 5.6 2.2 9.2 11.7 11.1 11.2 11.0 PT -1.2 0.7 0.9 3.5 3.8 3.8 4.1 4.4 4.0 6.3 1.8 5.8 5.4 7.6 -1.4 4.6 4.6 4.2 3.1 3.0 3.7 RO 19.9 21.4 22.0 22.0 20.5 20.5 20.6 19.7 22.7 27.2 26.2 25.2 25.2 25.2 17.3 19.9 28.0 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.0 SI 1.3 7.0 1.8 6.4 6.4 6.9 3.5 13.3 13.5 9.3 6.0 6.4 7.0 3.4 3.9 10.8 6.0 5.0 8.0 8.8 4.2 SK 7.6 9.0 8.1 8.1 8.1 8.3 7.7 3.4 5.5 5.8 9.0 9.0 9.1 8.6 9.7 8.5 3.9 7.4 5.8 6.0 6.0 FI 3.2 2.5 3.1 2.6 3.2 3.2 3.2 4.2 2.4 3.2 3.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.7 2.5 2.8 2.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 SE 1.0 1.1 4.4 4.4 4.1 3.5 5.4 1.2 0.5 2.1 3.1 2.3 1.2 4.9 2.3 2.6 2.4 1.9 1.7 2.1 0.7 UK 3.8 1.1 3.9 2.3 3.5 3.7 2.3 5.5 2.3 6.2 1.3 10.9 10.6 12.8 4.1 3.6 7.0 5.4 5.7 5.9 4.5 c Confidential : Data not available TOT = total nominal hourly labour costWAG = wages and salariesOTH = non-wage costs
