Hourly labour costs in the eurozone rose at an annual rate of 2% in the third quarter of 2012, compared with 1.9% in the second quarter of 2012. In the EU27, the annual increase was 1.9% in the third quarter of 2012, the same as the previous quarter, according to data published by Eurostat on 17 December.

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs. In the eurozone, hourly wages and salaries grew at an annual rate of 2% in the third quarter of 2012 and non-wage costs at 1.7%, compared with 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively, in the previous quarter. In the EU27, hourly wages and salaries rose at an annual rate of 2% and non-wage costs at 1.9% in the third quarter of 2012, compared with 2% and 1.6%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2012.

The sharpest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the entire economy were registered in Estonia (+7.6%) and Romania (+7.2%), and the lowest in Cyprus and the Netherlands (both +0.5%). Hourly labour costs declined in Slovenia (-0.8%). In the business economy (industry, services), the highest growth rates in the third quarter of 2012 were seen in Estonia (+7.7%) and Bulgaria (+7.1%), and the lowest in Slovenia (+0.3%) and the Netherlands and Slovakia (both +0.5%). In the mainly non-business economy (administration, education, health, etc), the largest increases in the third quarter of 2012 were registered in Romania (+9.6%) and Estonia (+7.5%), and the largest decreases in Slovenia (-3.2%), Italy (-1.2%), the United Kingdom (-0.9%) and Portugal (-0.7%).