The European
Union
Eurostat
Total hourly labour costs1 in the whole economy of the euro-zone2 grew by 2.2%3 in nominal terms in the second quarter of 1999 compared to the same period the previous year, Eurostat – Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg – reports. In the first quarter the increase was a revised 2.3%. For EUR15 the rise was 2.5%, compared to a revised 2.8% in the previous quarter.
Among countries for which data are available, the smallest annual rises were in Spain (1.2%), followed by Germany (1.7%), and Sweden (2.1%), and biggest in the United Kingdom (4.3%) and Denmark (4.1%). See Table 1.
In industry, hourly labour costs in the euro-zone rose by the same percentage as for the whole economy, 2.2%. In EU15 (excluding the UK and Greece) the increase was also 2.2%. From the data available, the smallest increases were in Sweden (1.3%) and Germany (1.6%); the biggest were in Denmark (3.9%) and Finland (3.6%). See Table 2.
A breakdown at Member State level shows, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, how the labour cost components wages and other labour costs affect the change in the quarterly total labour cost figure. For the second quarter 1999, from the Member States available, the biggest increase in wages, which covers most of the total labour costs, was in Finland (3.3%) and the smallest in Spain (0.8). See Table 3.
Table 1. Total nominal hourly labour costs,
whole economy4,
% change compared to same quarter a year
earlier – not seasonally adjusted
Q1-97 Q2-97 Q3-97 Q4-97 Q1-98 Q2-98 Q3-98 Q4-98 Q1-99 Q2-99 Eurozone 2.6
3.0
2.4
2.5
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.8
2.3
2.2
EU15 3.0
3.2
2.9
2.9
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.8
2.5
B 1.6
2.5
2.8
3.0
2.0
1.2
2.6
2.6
2.6
:
DK 3.6
4
4
3.9
4.2
4.3
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.1
D 2.3
2.6
1.9
2.1
1.9
1.6
1.7
2
1.8
1.7
E 2
4.2
4.3
3.8
4.0
3.2
2.6
2.2
2.4
1.2
F 2.5
2.1
2.3
2.5
2.7
2.7
2.5
2.7
2.5
2.4
IRL 3.9
4.6
5.5
5.3
5.5
4.6
5.1
4.5
4.2
:
I 4.2
4.9
2.7
2.2
-1.8
-1.4
-2.0
-1.6
:
:
L 3.1
1.7
1.4
0.8
1.5
0.3
1.7
2.8
0.0
:
NL 2.1
2.5
2.6
2.2
2.2
2.1
2.6
2.9
2.7
:
A 2.1
1.3
1.5
2.6
2.0
2.5
1.5
3.1
4.9
:
P c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
:
FIN 2.7
2.6
3.0
1.2
4.4
4.3
4.2
3.9
3.1
3.3
S 5.4
3.9
4.0
4.4
2.4
2.5
2.8
2.5
2.9
2.1
UK 4.7
4.4
4.8
5.0
5.9
5.9
5.3
4.5
5.2
4.3
Data for Greece are not yet available; Portugal: confidential
: Not available
France and Spain have significantly revised their national data (due to a
revision in national accounts) since the last press release.
Table 2. Total nominal hourly labour costs, industry,4
% change compared to the same quarter a year earlier – not seasonally adjusted
|
|
Q1-97 |
Q2-97 |
Q3-97 |
Q4-97 |
Q1-98 |
Q2-98 |
Q3-98 |
Q4-98 |
Q1-99 |
Q2-99 |
|
Eurozone |
2.3 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
|
EU15 |
2.4 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
1.6 |
1.9 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
|
B |
1.7 |
3.2 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
2.4 |
2.7 |
2.3 |
: |
|
DK |
3.6 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
4.2 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.7 |
4.9 |
3.9 |
|
D |
1.8 |
2.6 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
2.3 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
|
E |
2.2 |
3.2 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
2.7 |
2.2 |
1.9 |
2.0 |
|
F |
1.5 |
1.2 |
1.5 |
1.7 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.7 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
|
IRL |
4.2 |
5.0 |
6.0 |
4.8 |
5.9 |
4.6 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
4.0 |
: |
|
I |
5.1 |
4.0 |
5.3 |
3.3 |
-2.5 |
0.0 |
-1.3 |
-0.7 |
: |
: |
|
L |
3.1 |
1.6 |
0.1 |
-0.3 |
-1.6 |
-0.8 |
0.6 |
-0.3 |
-1.4 |
: |
|
NL |
2.3 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
2.3 |
: |
|
A |
2.1 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
1.8 |
3.5 |
5.4 |
: |
|
P |
c |
c |
c |
c |
c |
c |
c |
c |
c |
: |
|
FIN |
2.0 |
1.8 |
2.1 |
-0.1 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.3 |
3.6 |
|
S |
5.7 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
4.5 |
2.6 |
3.5 |
2.9 |
2.4 |
2.8 |
1.3 |
Data for Greece and the United Kingdom are not available; Portugal: confidential; : Not available
Table 3: Breakdown of total nominal
hourly labour costs, whole economy:4
% change from previous year – not seasonally adjusted
|
|
|
Q1-97 |
Q2-97 |
Q3-97 |
Q4-97 |
Q1-98 |
Q2-98 |
Q3-98 |
Q4-98 |
Q1-99 |
Q2-99 |
|
Eurozone |
Wages |
2.4 |
2.7 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.3
|
|
|
Other |
3.3 |
3.9 |
2.9 |
3.1 |
1.1 |
0.8 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
2.7 |
2.0
|
|
|
Total |
2.6 |
3.0 |
2.4 |
2.5 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
1.6 |
1.8 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
|
B |
Wages |
1.4 |
1.9 |
2.6 |
2.1 |
2.6 |
2.0 |
2.4 |
2.8 |
2.2 |
:
|
|
|
Other |
1.9 |
3.7 |
3.2 |
4.5 |
1.0 |
-0.1 |
2.9 |
2.4 |
3.1
|
|
|
|
Total |
1.6 |
2.5 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
1.2 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
2.6
|
|
|
D |
Wages |
1.7 |
2.1 |
1.6 |
1.8 |
2.1 |
1.8 |
1.9 |
2.2 |
2.0 |
2.2
|
|
|
Other |
3.9 |
4.3 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
1.3 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.4 |
1.2 |
0.4
|
|
|
Total |
2.3 |
2.6 |
1.9 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
|
E |
Wages |
1.6 |
3.6 |
3.7 |
3.1 |
3.0 |
2.1 |
1.6 |
1.5 |
1.8 |
0.8
|
|
|
Other |
5.3 |
9.6 |
10.3 |
9.5 |
13.2 |
12.3 |
10.4 |
7.8 |
7.7 |
4.7
|
|
|
Total |
2.0 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
3.2 |
2.6 |
2.2 |
2.4 |
1.2 |
|
F |
Wages |
2.8 |
2.7 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
2.6 |
2.4 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
2.3 |
2.4
|
|
|
Other |
1.8 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
1.5 |
2.9 |
3.5 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
2.8 |
2.7
|
|
|
Total |
2.5 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.5 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
2.4 |
|
IRL |
Wages |
4.1 |
4.6 |
5.5 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
4.6 |
5.1 |
4.5 |
4.2 |
:
|
|
|
Other |
3.2 |
4.6 |
5.5 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
4.6 |
5.1 |
4.6 |
4.2
|
|
|
|
Total |
3.9 |
4.6 |
5.5 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
4.6 |
5.1 |
4.5 |
4.2
|
|
|
I |
Wages |
4.1 |
4.3 |
2.8 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
1.9 |
: |
:
|
|
|
Other |
4.3 |
6.2 |
2.6 |
1.8 |
-10.3 |
-10.9 |
-10.4 |
-9.1 |
:
|
|
|
|
Total |
4.2 |
4.9 |
2.7 |
2.2 |
-1.8 |
-1.4 |
-2.0 |
-1.6 |
:
|
|
|
L |
Wages |
3.3 |
1.8 |
1.6 |
0.9 |
1.3 |
0.1 |
1.5 |
2.8 |
0.1 |
:
|
|
|
Other |
1.4 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
2.2 |
1.8 |
3.4 |
2.7 |
-0.6
|
|
|
|
Total |
3.1 |
1.7 |
1.4 |
0.8 |
1.5 |
0.3 |
1.7 |
2.8 |
0.0
|
|
|
A |
Wages |
2.2 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
2.8 |
2.2 |
2.5 |
1.6 |
3.2 |
4.4 |
:
|
|
|
Other |
1.7 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
1.9 |
1.2 |
3.4 |
6.1
|
|
|
|
Total |
2.1 |
1.3 |
1.5 |
2.6 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
3.1 |
4.9
|
|
|
FIN |
Wages |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.1 |
1.4 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
4.0 |
3.1 |
3.3
|
|
|
Other |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
0.7 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
3.9 |
3.7 |
3.1 |
3.3
|
|
|
Total |
2.7 |
2.6 |
3.0 |
1.2 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
3.9 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
|
S |
Wages |
5.7 |
4.1 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
2.9 |
3.0 |
3.2 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
1.9
|
|
|
Other |
4.8 |
3.2 |
3.4 |
3.8 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
3.3 |
2.5
|
|
|
Total |
5.4 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.4 |
2.4 |
2.6 |
2.8 |
2.5 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
No breakdown is available for Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom; data for Greece is not available; : Not available
1 In addition to employees’ gross earnings, total labour costs include indirect costs such as employers’ social contributions and taxes connected to the employment. Gross earnings or wages are those paid directly and regularly by the employer at the time of each wage payment. They include the value of any social contributions, income taxes, etc. payable by the employee, even if actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities, etc. on behalf of the employee.
2 Euro-zone: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland.
3 As the length of series is relatively short, problems arise in the accurate calculation of seasonality. Therefore non-seasonally adjusted series will be published until the lengths of series are adequate to avoid any unnecessary distortion.
4 See Methodology
Methodology
Whole economy here covers economic activities C to K according to NACE Rev.1. It includes all market economic activities except agriculture, fisheries, forestry, education, health, entertainment, information and personal services. The sectors covered are:
C+D+E industry
F construction
G+H+I trade, hotels and restaurants,communication, transport
J+K financial and business services
Hourly labour cost indices show the short-term development of the total cost for employers of employing the labour force. These indices are calculated by Member States using jointly-agreed definitions. When calculating these indices, all enterprises, whatever their size, and all employees (full- and part-timers or casual employees, apprentices, those who began work during the reference quarter and those who finished work during the reference quarter) should be taken into account. Labour costs include gross wages and salaries, employers’ social contributions and taxes net of subsidies connected to employment. Labour costs here do not include costs for occupational training or other costs such as those for canteens or recruitment.
Hourly labour costs are obtained by dividing the total of these costs for all employees in a defined country by all hours worked by these employees. Here, instead of hours worked, hours paid or number of employees might have been used as a measure of volume of labour.
Most recent figures for euro-zone aggregates are calculated when 60% coverage of the information for particular series is achieved. This coverage is calculated from the weighting variable ie total compensation of employees in 1996 (national accounts with current ECU exchange rates). Missing or delayed data are estimated to calculate the aggregates. As some of the series are influenced by strong seasonal factors, recent observations are estimated using short statistical forecasts. Missing observations in the middle of the series (annual or biannual data or random discontinuity in data production) are imputed by using simple interpolation methods. Imputed figures are not published: they are used only to calculate euro-zone aggregates. The original indices from Member States can be revised, and thus aggregates are recalculated. So as not to confuse users with too many versions of the data, revised aggregates are calculated only once a month.
Exceptions in the coverage and definitions (as at 14.10.1999)
Belgium has used the number of full-time-equivalents employees as a measure of hours worked.
German figures for whole economy cover only sectors G ‘distributive trade’ and J ‘financial institutions’ in the services (not sectors H ‘hotels and restaurants’, I ‘communication and transports’ nor K ‘business services’). All sectors in industry are included.
Ireland includes only sector J ‘financial institutions’ in the services. All sectors in industry are included. In construction, managerial employees are excluded (9-10% of employees). The number of full-time-equivalents employees are used as a measure of hours worked.
Italian figures correspond to enterprises employing 500 or more employees. Figures do not include sector F ‘construction’. The number of full-time-equivalents employees are used as a measure of hours worked.
Luxembourgish figures do not necessary include the part of the wages that exceeds five times legal minimum wage (at the moment 5810.38 euro). This is due to the nature of the administrative data source used.
Netherlands figures for whole economy include also public sector.
Austrian figures for whole economy cover only industrial sectors.
Swedish figures for whole economy include the service sector which is wider than just sectors GHIJK. Sectors M (education), N (health and social work) and O (other community, social and personal service activities) are also included. Only manual workers are covered.
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Fax: +352-4301-34 415
veijo-ismo.ritola.@eurostat.cec.be
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