Labour costs in the 4th quarter of 2009: –0.5% on the previous quarter
A seasonally and calendar adjusted decline of 0.5% was recorded for labour costs per hour worked in Germany in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the third quarter of the same year. Hence the trend observed in the third quarter of 2009 (–0.2%) continued. At the same time, the marked increase in labour costs stopped, which had been recorded at the beginning of the economic crisis in the fourth quarter of 2008 (+2.3) and the first quarter of 2009 (+1.4%).
Germany in 2004 was markedly above the average of today’s 27 European Union member states as regards labour costs (sum of gross wage and additional costs to direct remuneration), but it was below the EU average as regards the share of non-wage labour costs in labour costs.
