Latvia, whose labor costs grew by 7.3% on the year in the first quarter, posted the biggest increase among member states, followed by Romania, Bulgaria (+6.9%), Lithuania (5.9%) and Estonia (5%), the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said.
The highest decrease in the hourly labor costs was observed in Cyprus (-1.8%).
By economic sectors, hourly labor costs in Romania rose by 7.1% in industry, by 6% in constructions, and by 7.5% in services.
Hourly labor costs rose by 2.2% in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU in the first quarter of 2015, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.