EMPLOYMENT : LABOUR COSTS STILL RISING.

Hourly labour costs grew by 1.4% in the eurozone and by 1.2% in the EU28 in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with the same quarter of the previous year, according to data released by Eurostat, on 19 March. In the third quarter of 2013, hourly labour costs rose by 1.1% in both areas.

The two main components of labour costs are wages/salaries and non-wage costs. In the eurozone, wages and salaries per hour increased by 1.9%, while non-wage costs remained stable in the third quarter of 2013, compared with the same quarter a year earlier (in the third quarter of 2013, the annual increases were 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively). In the EU28, hourly wages and salaries rose by 1.6% and non-wage costs by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared with +1.2% and...