The hourly labour costs (total cost) rose by an annual 5.2% in the second quarter of 2022, according to provisional data by the Statistical Service of Cyprus.
The two main components of labour costs, wages and salaries per hour worked and non-wage costs per hour, increased by 3.8% and 12.2%, respectively, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the hourly labour cost increased by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter.
Seasonally adjusted hourly labour cost, which refers to wages and salaries, increased by 1.4%, while the non-wage cost increased by 3.9%.
This was below the EU average of 4.4% in Q2.
According to CyStat, the annual change in hourly labour cost in the previous quarter amounted to 10.2%
It indicates the inflationary pressure that may result from developments in the labour market.
Hourly wage costs across EU
Hourly wage costs across EU countries in Q2, compared with the same quarter of 2021, the highest increases in hourly wage costs for the whole economy were recorded in Hungary (+14.9%) and Bulgaria (+14.6%).
Four more EU states recorded an increase above 10% namely: Lithuania (+12.4%), Romania (+11.7%), Poland (+11.1%) and Estonia (+10.1%).
By contrast, the lowest increase in hourly wage costs for the whole economy was recorded in Greece (+0.8%).
In Q2, the hourly labour costs rose by 4.0% in the euro area and by 4.4 % in the EU, compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
In the euro area, wages & salaries per hour worked increased by 4.1%, while the non-wage component rose by 3.8% in Q2, compared with the same quarter of 2021.
In the EU, hourly wages & salaries increased by 4.5% and the non-wage component by 4.1%.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 4.3% in the (mainly) non-business economy and by 3.9% in the business economy: +2.2% in industry, +2.8% in construction and +4.9% in services.
In the EU, hourly labour costs grew by 4.2% in the (mainly) non-business economy and by 4.4% in the business economy: +2.9% in industry, +3.3% in construction and +5.3% in services.
