Total hourly labor costs in the whole economy of the euro-zone grew by 2.3 percent in nominal terms in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004, said Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday.

The increase in the second quarter followed a 3.0 percent hike in the first quarter.

Labor cost indices show the short-term development of the total cost for employers of employing the labor force on an hourly basis.

In all the 25 EU members, the annual rise was 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2005, compared to 3.4 percent in the previous quarter.

Among the member states for which data are available in the second quarter of 2005, the smallest annual rises were recorded in Germany (0.8 percent), Malta (1.1 percent), Poland (1.8 percent), Portugal (2.5 percent), France and Sweden (both 2.7 percent).

The largest increases were observed in Latvia (14.2 percent), Estonia (10.4 percent), Slovakia (7.6 percent), Slovenia (7.2 percent) and Lithuania (7.0 percent).

In industry, hourly labor costs rose by 2.3 percent in the euro- zone and by 2.2 percent EU-wide, said Eurostat.

Source: Xinhua