Eurozone labour costs up in Q2

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BRUSSELS, Sept 15 (Xinhua): Total hourly labour costs in the Eurozone rose by 2.7 per cent in nominal terms in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the same quarter last year, said Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union (EU), yesterday.
The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs. In the Eurozone, wages and salaries grew by 2.8 per cent in the year up to the second quarter of 2008, and non-wage costs by 2.2 per cent, compared with 3.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively for the first quarter of 2008.
In the 27-member EU, the annual labour cost rise was 3.4 per cent up to the second quarter of 2008.
In the whole EU, wages and salaries rose by 3.6 per cent and the non-wage component by 2.6 per cent. For the previous quarter the corresponding rates were 4.7 per cent and 3.3 per cent.
The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the Eurozone hourly labour costs rose at an annual rate of 3.0 per cent in industry, 3.8 per cent in construction and 2.3 per cent in services up to the second quarter of 2008.