Sharpest Decrease in Hourly Labour Costs Recorded in Lithuania

EUROSTAT has reported that the sharpest annual decrease in hourly labour costs of -10.9% was observed in Lithuania in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Among the EU member states, for which data are available for the 3rd quarter of 2009, decreases in hourly labour costs in Estonia (-4.3%) and Latvia (-2.7%) follow Lithuania.

The highest annual rises were registered in Bulgaria (+10.4%), Romania (+9.6%), the Czech Republic (+6.4%), Finland (+6.2%), Germany (+4.8%), Spain and Portugal (both +4.7%).

In the 3rd quarter of 2009 the average hourly earnings in Lithuania was EUR 3.7.