Belgium’s hourly labour costs increased by 0.1% during the second quarter of 2016, compared to twelve months earlier.
This is according figures published by Eurostat today (Friday). This is a far less rapid upsurge than in neighbouring countries, with the exception of Luxembourg.
In Germany, hourly labour costs have thus risen by 1.8%, 1.4% in France and 0.6% in the Netherlands.
On the other hand, in Luxembourg hourly labour costs have diminished by 1.1%.
Costs increased by an average of 1% in the eurozone and 1.4% within the 28 European Union countries. In the first quarter of 2016, hourly labour costs increased by 1.6% within both zones.
The most significant increases were witnessed in Romania (+12%), Latvia (+9.5%), Bulgaria (+7.3%) and Lithuania (+6.6%).
In addition to Luxembourg, Italy and Finland also had reductions in labour costs over the second quarter (being -1.1% and -2% respectively).
