Hourly labour costs in Malta rose by just 1.9% in Q1

In the first quarter of 2019, hourly labour costs in Malta rose by just 1.9%.

According to Eurostat, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+16.3%) and Bulgaria (+12.9%), while the only decrease was recorded in Greece (0.2%).

Hourly labour costs rose by 2.4% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU28 in the first quarter of 2019, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, hourly labour costs increased by 2.3% and 2.8% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

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

In the euro area, the cost of wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.5% and the nonwage component by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the annual changes were +2.3% and +2.4% respectively.

In the EU28, the costs of hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.7% and the non-wage component rose by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2018, annual changes were +3% and +2.3% respectively.

In the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 2.5% in industry, by 2.3% in construction, by 2.4% in services and by 2.5% in the (mainly) nonbusiness economy.

In the EU28, labour costs per hour grew by 2.4% in industry, by 2% in construction, by 2.5% in services and by 2.8% in the (mainly) non-business economy.