Euro zone labour costs jump in Q1, Greek wages fall

Euro zone labour costs jumped in the first three months of 2011, driven mainly by higher costs in industry, European Union's statistics office data showed on Monday. Eurostat said total hourly labour costs in the 17 countries using the euro rose 2.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, up from 1.5% in the last three months of 2010.

Eurostat said euro zone wages rose 2.3% year-on-year while other labour costs, such as social security contributions and employment taxes jumped 3.6%. In industry, total hourly labour costs rose 2.8%, with wages up 2.6% and other costs rising 3.5%.

In Greece, which is struggling to regain competitiveness amid a deep recession and fiscal tightening, total labour costs fell 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, with wages down by 6.2% and other costs falling 9.3%.