Bulgaria, whose labor costs grew by 7.8% on the year in the first quarter, posted the highest increase among member states, followed by Hungary, with a 5.6% growth, EU’s statistics office Eurostat said.
In the EU bloc, first quarter labor costs were up 2.7% on the year, compared with a 1.8% annual growth for the previous quarter. Hourly wages and salaries rose 2.6% in the first quarter, while the non-wage component of labor costs was up 3.5% on the year.
The highest annual decreases in hourly labor costs were observed in Greece (-6.8%) and Ireland (-2.2%).