Malta sees second lowest growth in labour costs

Labour costs in Malta in the second quarter of this year rose by 1.8 percent from the same quarter of last year - the second lowest increase in the European Union.

The smallest increase in hourly labour cost was observed in Germany (0.7%) while the highest were in Latvia (24.8%) and Romania (23%).

The euro area average was 2.7% while the average of the EU27 was 3.4%.

The figures were issued by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency. The euro area average in 2007 had been 3.5% while that of the EU 27 had been 4.4%.

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