According to data released by Eurostat, it was recorded a drop in labor costs in Portugal of 8.8%. Of this, the wage component fell 9.7% and the non-wage 5.8%. In previous quarters, the evolution of this component was positive, recording homologous increases of 0.4% in the third quarter and 3.2% in the second quarter last year.
On the other hand, the reality of the Eurozone is different: “In the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter last year, hourly labor costs in the euro zone grew 1.3% in industry, 0.7% in construction, 0.8% in services and 1.2% in the economy (mostly) informal. In the EU-28, labor costs per hour grew by 1.6% in industry, 1.3% in services and 1.4% in the economy (mostly) informal in the fourth quarter”, reveals Eurostat.
