In the fourth quarter of 2019, hourly labour costs increased by 2.3%, 2.7%, 5.3% and 4.1% respectively.

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 3.4% and the non-wage component grew by 3.6% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the annual changes were +2.4% for wages & salaries and 2.2% for the non-wage component.

In the EU, the costs of hourly wages & salaries as well as the non-wage component rose by 3.7% in the first quarter of 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2019, annual changes were +2.8% and +2.4% respectively.

In Cyprus, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 3.5% and the non-wage component grew by 9.3% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the annual changes were +3.2% for wages & salaries and 15.9% for the non-wage component.

In Greece, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.4% and the non-wage component decreased by -1% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the annual changes were +4% for wages & salaries and 4.4% for the non-wage component.

In the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 2.6% in industry, by 3.0% in construction, by 3.4% in services and by 4.2% in the (mainly) non-business economy. In the EU, labour costs per hour grew by 3.1% in industry, by 3.2% in construction, by 3.6% in services and by 4.3% in the (mainly) non-business economy.

In the first quarter of 2020, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Lithuania (+11.4%) and Bulgaria (+10.2%) while the lowest increase were recorded in Croatia (+0.3%) and Luxembourg (+0.4%).

Source: In-Cyprus