EMPLOYMENT : EUROZONE HOURLY LABOUR COSTS UP 0.8%.

• Position: Brief article

Hourly labour costs in the eurozone rose by 0.8% in the year up to the third quarter of 2010, compared with 1.6% for the previous quarter. This is the smallest increase registered since the start of the series in 2000. In the EU27, the annual rise was 1.2% up to the third quarter of 2010, compared with 1.5% for the previous quarter.

The two main components of labour costs are wages and salaries and non-wage costs (including social contributions paid by employers and labour taxes considered as labour costs). In the eurozone, wages and salaries per hour worked grew by 0.7% in the year up to the third quarter of 2010, and the non-wage component by 1.2%, compared with 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively, for the second quarter of 2010. In the EU27, hourly wages and salaries rose by 1.2% and the non-wage component by 1.1% in the year up to the...