OREANDA-NEWS. Hourly labour costs rose by 1.6 % in the euro area ( EA1 9 ) and by 1.9 % in th e EU28 in the second quarter of 201 5 , compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 201 5 , hourly labour costs increased by 1. 9 % in the euro area and by 2.3 % in the EU28 . These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistica l office of the European Union .

The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non - wage cost s . In the euro area , wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 1.9 % and the non - wage component by 0.4 % , in the second quarter of 201 5 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 201 5 , the annual changes were + 2.0 % for wages & salaries and + 1. 4 % for non - wage costs . In the EU2 8 , hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.1 % and the non - wage component by 1.1 % in the second quarte r of 201 5 . In the first quarter of 2015, annual changes were +2.4% and +2.1 % respectively .

Breakdown by economic activity In the second quarter of 201 5 compared with the same quarter of the previous year , hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 2.0 % in industry , by 1.1 % in construction , by 1.5 % in services and by 1 . 4 % in the (mainly) non - business economy. In the EU2 8 , labour costs per hour grew by 2 .1 % in industry, by 1.9 % in construction, by 2. 0 % in services and by 1.6 % in the ( mainly ) non - business economy.

Member States

In the second quarter of 201 5 , the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Latvia (+ 7.9 %), Romania (+ 7. 7 %) , Bulgaria (+6.8 %), Estonia (+ 5 . 5 % ) and Lithuania (+4.3%) . Decreases were rec orded in Greece ( - 2.9%), Cyprus ( - 1.2 %) and Italy ( - 0.4 % ) .