Finland Times

 

Hourly labor costs in the euro zone rose by 0.9 percent in the second quarter this year, European Union (EU) statistics office Eurostat said Monday.

 

The latest data, compared with a 1.7-percent increase in the first quarter, indicated a slower pace on cost rising in the euro zone.

 

At the EU level, the annual rise in labor costs was also 0.9 percent in the second quarter, compared with 2.0 percent in the previous quarter.

 

The two main components of labor costs are wages and salaries, and non-wage costs. In the eurozone, wages and salaries per hour worked grew 1.1 percent and the non-wage costs 0.1 percent in the second quarter , compared with 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively in the previous quarter.

 

In the eurozone, hourly labor costs rose 1.8 percent in industry, 0.7 percent in construction, 0.8 percent in services and 0.3 percent in the mainly non-business economy in the year up to the second quarter of 2013.

 

In the EU, labor costs per hour grew by 1.7 percent in industry, 0.4 percent in construction, 0.9 percent in services and 0.4 percent in the mainly non-business economy.  Enditem