A major reason for lower labour costs per hour was the higher number of hours worked year-on-year, the Office said on Wednesday. The average pay per hour decreased by 0.9%, while other labour costs were down 6.6%.

The seasonally adjusted data of Eurostat as of 1 June show that labour costs per hour in industry and services increased in the last quarter of 2011 on the yearly level in almost all EU members for which data is available.

Labour costs only decreased in Ireland and Portugal, by 1.7% in each, and in Slovenia, where they edged down 0.3%.

The highest increase in labour costs was registered in Bulgaria (by 12.6%), Romania (by 8.6%) and Estonia (by 7.2%), while the average increase in the EU was 2.7%.