Eurozone Labor Cost Growth Moderates in Q3

2025-12-17 10:10 By Dongting Liu 1 min. read

Hourly labor costs in the Euro Area increased by 3.3% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, easing from 3.6% in the previous quarter and below the preliminary estimate of 3.5%.

Wage and salary growth slowed to 3.0% from 3.7% in Q2 2025, while non-wage costs, including social contributions and benefits, climbed 4.0% compared with 3.4%.

By sector, the business economy saw a 3.3% rise in hourly labor costs, led by construction (+4.3%), industry (+3.3%), and services (+3.2%), whereas the non-business economy posted a more moderate increase of 3.1%.

Among the Eurozone’s largest economies, labor cost growth moderated in Germany (4.0% vs. 4.3% in Q2), Italy (2.8% vs. 3.8%), Spain (2.1% vs. 3.7%), and the Netherlands (3.8% vs. 6.5%), while France saw a slight acceleration (1.7% vs. 1.6%).



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