Bulgaria 2nd in EU by Hourly Labor Cost Increase Q1 2012

With +6.8%, Bulgaria ranks second in the EU by the increase of hourly wages & salaries and non-wage costs in the first quarter of 2012. File photo

Bulgaria is second among EU Member States by the increase of hourly labor costs in the first quarter of 2012, only behind Estonia.

The figures were published Thursday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The two main components of labor costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs.

Among the Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2012, the highest annual increases in hourly labor costs were registered in Estonia (+7.2%), Bulgaria (+6.8%), Austria (+5.3%) and Romania (+5.2%), and the lowest in Luxembourg (+0.9%) and Cyprus (+1.0%). Hourly labor costs decreased in Slovenia (-1.2%) and remained stable in the United Kingdom compared with the first quarter of 2011.

Hourly labor costs in the Eurozone rose by 2.0% in the year up to the first quarter of 2012, compared with 2.8% for the previous quarter.

In the EU, the annual rise was 1.7% up to the first quarter of 2012, compared with 2.7% for the previous quarter.

In the Eurozone, wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.0% in the year up to the first quarter of 2012, as did the non-wage component, compared with 2.6% and 3.5% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2011.

In the EU, hourly wages & salaries rose by 1.7% and the non-wage component by 2.1% in the year up to the first quarter of 2012, compared with 2.6% and 3.4% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The breakdown by economic activity shows that in the Eurozone hourly labor costs rose by 2.5% in industry, by 1.9% in construction and by 1.8% in services in the year up to the first quarter of 2012.

In the EU, labor costs per hour grew by 2.7% in industry and by 1.4% in both construction and services.

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