Latvia registers ninth steepest rise of labor costs in EU in Q3 - Eurostat

  • 2017-12-20
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The average hourly labor costs in Latvia in the third quarter of this year compared to the respective quarter of last year rose 5.2 percent, which is the ninth steepest rise among the European Union countries, reveals the data published by the Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

The fastest labor cost growth was recorded in Romania (16.5 percent), followed by Hungary (12.6 percent), Bulgaria (10.7 percent), Estonia (8.6 percent) and Lithuania (7.9 percent).

Meanwhile, hourly labor costs dropped three percent in Finland and by 1.1 percent in Portugal.

The average hourly labor costs rose by 1.6 percent in the eurozone and by 2.1 percent in the EU in the third quarter of this year.

Average hourly labor costs in the manufacturing sector climbed two percent in the EU and 1.5 percent in the eurozone. In Latvia, the average hourly labor costs in manufacturing rose 4.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, while in Lithuania the increase was 8.6 percent and in Estonia 8.2 percent.

In construction, hourly labor costs climbed 2.5 percent in the EU and 2.1 percent in the eurozone. Latvia recorded a 2.5 percent increase, and labor costs in construction rose by 8.7 percent in Lithuania and 11.5 percent in Estonia.