Labour cost index, nominal value - quarterly data
methods, notes and classification
DATA_DESCR Labour cost statistics constitute a hierarchical system of multi-annual, yearly and quarterly statistics, designed to provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of the level, structure and short-term development of labour costs in the different sectors of economic activity in the EU and certain other countries. All statistics are based on a harmonised definition of labour costs. The quarterly Labour Cost Index (LCI) is a Euro-Indicator which measures the cost pressure arising from the production factor “labour”. The data covered in the LCI collection relate to total average hourly labour costs and to the labour cost categories “wages and salaries” and “employers’ social security contributions plus taxes paid minus subsidies received by the employer”. Data - also broken down by economic activity, are available for the EU aggregates and EU Member States (NACE Rev 1.1 Sections C to K or NACE Rev 2 Sections B to S), in working day and seasonally adjusted form. The data on the Labour Cost Index are given in the form of index numbers (current reference year: 2008) and of annual and quarterly growth rates (comparison with the previous quarter, or the same quarter of the previous year). In contrast to the information collected for the other Labour Cost domains, the labour costs covered in the LCI do not include vocational training costs and other expenditure such as recruitment costs and working clothes expenditure. The data are estimated by the National Statistical Institutes on the basis of available structural and short-term information from samples and administrative records for enterprises of all sizes.
CLASS_SYSTEM Index numbers and growth rates are made available for the overall and other indices by economic activity (General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (NACE) Rev. 1.1 at section level for Sections C to K or NACE Rev. 2 for Sections B to S).
STAT_CONC_DEF In the context of the Labour Cost Index, Labour Costs are defined as core expenditure borne by employers for the purpose of employing staff. They include employee compensation, with wages and salaries in cash and in kind, employers' social security contributions and employment taxes regarded as labour costs minus any subsidies received, but not vocational training costs or other expenditure such as recruitment costs and spending on working clothes (by contrast with multiannual and annual labour cost data). These labour cost components and their elements are defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1726/1999 of 27 July 1999 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and labour costs as regards the definition and transmission of information on labour costs. The quarterly Labour Cost Index measures short-term trends in "average hourly labour costs", defined as (total) labour costs divided by the corresponding number of hours worked in the quarter in question (see paragraphs 11.26 to 11.31 of Annex A, Chapter 11, to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/1996 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community for the definition of hours worked). Annual figures are calculated as the arithmetic mean of the quarterly values. All labour cost indices are annual chain-linked Laspeyres indices. Trends in average hourly labour costs for an individual economic activity/country are weighted by the total labour costs associated with that activity/country, which are fixed for one year in order to obtain national or European aggregates. LCI data are presented in the form of index numbers (current reference year: 2008) and annual and quarterly growth rates (comparison with the previous quarter). Apart from the overall Labour Cost Index, indices are also available for the labour cost components "wages and salaries" and "employers' social security contributions plus taxes paid minus subsidies received by the employer (Labour costs other than wages and salaries)". For some Member States, an index excluding "bonuses" - defined as bonuses and allowances not paid in every remuneration period is also available.
STAT_UNIT The statistical unit can be the enterprise or the local unit, regardless of size, i.e. the labour cost indices cover all units in the NACE sections considered.
STAT_POP LCI applies to all activities in sectors B to S of NACE Rev. 2 and represents all statistical units.
REF_AREA Data are available for the EU and Euro area aggregates and all EU Member States. For some NACE sectors, information from Norway, Croatia, and Turkey is available as well.
BASE_PER The labour cost indices are chain-linked Laspeyres price indices which use the year 2008 asáreference year.
UNIT_MEASURE Index figures with reference year 2008 are available, as well as quarterly and annual growth rates in percentage.
Methods 
Explanatory Notes 
Variables