Bulgaria, whose labor costs grew by 12.4% on the year in the second quarter, posted the highest increase among member states, EU’s statistics office Eurostat said.
Annual decreases in hourly labor costs were observed in Greece (-3.7%), Ireland (-3.5%) and Portugal (-0.8%).
In the EU bloc, second quarter labor costs were up 3.4% on the year, compared with a 2.3% annual growth for the previous quarter. Hourly wages and salaries rose 3.2% in the second quarter, while the non-wage component of labor costs was up 3.9% on the year.