At the same time, Romania continues to report one of the lowest job vacancy rates in the EU.
Hourly labor costs rose by 3.4% across the EU and by 4.1% in the euro area between January and March 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. Romania saw a significant annual jump of 16.1%, followed by Croatia (13.5%), Bulgaria (13%), and Slovenia (11.9%). Poland (11.2%) and Hungary (10.2%) also reported increases above 10%, while the lowest growth rates were recorded in Malta (1.6%) and France (1.9%).
Labor cost data includes both wages and non-wage components such as employer social contributions. Across the EU, wage costs increased by 4.2% year-on-year in Q1 2025, while non-wage costs rose by 3.8%.
In Romania, the sharp increase was driven by a 16.8% rise in business sector labor costs and a 14% rise in the non-business sector. By industry, hourly labor costs grew by 20.4% in construction, 17.8% in industry, and 15.6% in services. At the EU level, respective increases were 5.2% in construction, 3.3% in industry, and 4.7% in services.
Despite the wage surge, Romania continues to have one of the lowest job vacancy rates in the EU. In the first quarter of 2025, the EU job vacancy rate stood at 2.2%, down from 2.3% in the previous quarter and 2.6% in Q1 2024.
Romania recorded the lowest rate at 0.6%, followed by Poland (0.8%), and Spain and Bulgaria (both 0.9%). The highest vacancy rates were observed in the Netherlands (4.2%), Belgium (4.1%), and Austria (3.6%).
Within the euro area, the vacancy rate declined to 2.5% in Q1/2025, from 2.6% in the previous quarter and 3% in the same period of 2023. Compared to Q1 2024, vacancy rates rose in only five member states, remained stable in two, and fell in 20. The steepest year-on-year drops were in Greece and Austria (both down 0.9 percentage points), followed by Germany and Sweden (both down 0.8 pp).
In Romania, the job vacancy rate dropped from 0.7% in Q1/2024 to 0.6% in the same period of 2025. Broken down by sector, vacancies stood at 0.6% in industry and construction, and 0.7% in services. The EU averages were significantly higher, at 1.9% for industry and construction and 2.5% for services.