Average Labour Cost Statistics By Economy and Demographics

Introduction

Average Labour Cost Statistics: Labour costs are the complete amount of money that employers spend on hiring workers, from salaries to wages and other benefits. These costs are very important because they help determine pricing and profitability, as well as the outcome of economic policy decisions.

In 2025, the trend in average labour cost statistics is largely due to the country’s growth prospects, inflation, and labour market.

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• According to average labour cost statistics, the labour cost rate of increase over a period has been forecasted to show deceleration; the unit labour costs would decrease from 6.1% in 2023 to 4.1% in 2024 and 2.6% beyond that in 2025. Therefore, this turnaround is comprised of slashing the compensation growth rate from 5.3% in 2023 to 4.6% in 2024, coupled with the said increase in labour productivity.
• Unit labour costs in manufacturing are, therefore, predicted to have an annual rise of 5.3% in Q3 2024 in the United States. As in previous years, average weekly earnings have increased. This includes a steep rise in Q1 2024, where average weekly income climbed to 971.75 euros, just to fall to 963.17 euros in the next Q2 2024.
• Thus, the average monthly cost per hourly worker would be EUR€34.93 among all sectors in Q2 2024, while the Information and Communication sector alone would see a rate of EUR€59.64 for its hourly workers.
• Average labour cost statistics state that Full-time workers, meanwhile, earn approximately USD 30 per hour, with their total cost at about USD 39 with benefits and taxes factored.
• Furthermore, both overtime and double-time rates inflate labour costs, where overtime pay is USD 53 per hour and double times rate is USD 67. The resulting vacancy rate for jobs during Q2 of 2024 was reduced to 1.1%, a little less than in Q2 of 2023, when it stood at 1.3%.
• The highest numbers of recorded job vacancy rates in Q1 of 2024 were found in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Activities sector (2.2%) and in the Transportation and Storage sector (1.8%).
• Labour costs differ across all demographic categories; 16- to 19-year-olds receive about USD 11 per hour, and 25- to 54-year-olds earn close to USD 26 per hour.
• Average labour cost statistics reveal that the average hourly wage of women is around USD 22 compared to USD 27 for men.
• People who possess a bachelor’s degree earn more than USD 36 for each hour worked; high-school graduates work for around USD 18 per hour.
• The growth of hourly labour costs in the EU was 5.3% between 2022 and 2023. This was somewhat reduced in the euro area, with such costs increasing by 4.8%. Croatia, Lithuania, and Estonia showed the highest increases, while Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland presented the largest increases among non-euro EU member states. Denmark had the lowest increase, which was recorded at 2.7%.

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Forecasted Increases In Labour Costs And Productivity

(Reference: statista.com)

• Average labour cost statistics indicate that the staff of Eurosystem member countries’ central banks announced a prediction of quite a sharp reduction in the pace of increase of the unit labour costs (an indicator of the amount of labour necessary for producing one unit of output) in the next few years as follows: from 6.1% in 2023, to be reduced to 4.1% in 2024, all the way down to 2.6% in 2025.
• All these reductions will result from a slow pace of rise in compensation per employee for 2023, where it is forecasted that it will be reduced from 5.3% in 2023 to 4.6% in 2024, coupled with improvements in labour productivity, termed by total output per worker.

Manufacturing Unit Labour Cost

(Reference: statista.com)

• With an annualised rate of 5.3% increment, unit labour cost in America’s manufacturing sector features an increase within the third quarter of 2024.
• Define these unit labour costs as the measurement of compensation per hour about productivity, thus reflecting the cost of labour necessary for one unit of output. It is a significant measure of the inflationary pressures on production.
• Hourly compensation increases unit labour costs, while productivity gains offset those increases and reduce unit labour costs.

Average Weekly Labour Earnings

(Reference: cso.ie)

• Average labour cost statistics data illustrate that in the last years, average weekly labour income in euros exhibited a consistently increasing trend despite an observable fluctuation in 2024.
• In 2019, average weekly earnings stood at 771.39 euros, an increase to 817.34 euros in 2020, consistent with this growth trend.
• In 2021, they went further up to 851.28 euros, and the trend continued upward. In particular, there was an increase in 2022, hitting 873.08, and it also continued reaching 911.74 in 2023.
• A very remarkable growth was observed in the first quarter of 2024, where average weekly earnings reached 971.75.
• In the second quarter of 2024, however, it showed a slight decrease to 963.17. Well past the most recent fluctuations, this represents a small dip but still manifests as a large increase compared to earlier years.

Average Labour Cost By Sector

(Reference: cso.ie)

• According to average labour cost statistics, in the second quarter of 2024, an average of EUR€34.93 per hour was paid as total labour costs in every sector of the economy.
• The Information and Communication sector has the highest hourly labour costs, averaging EUR€59.64, followed by Financial & Real Estate Activities with an average of EUR€50.10.
• The lowest labour costs are recorded in Accommodation & Food Services Activities, averaging EUR€18.76 per hour, with the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Service Activities sectors at EUR€25.24 per hour.
• In the past five years up to Q2 in 2024, average hourly total labour costs have risen by 27.0% from EUR€27.50 to EUR€34.93 per hour.
• It presents how much the average hourly labour costs, other than wages, were changed in the different sectors. The highest increase in non-wage labour costs was posted by the information and communication sector, with 51%.
• Next was the administration and support services, with a 33% increase, and the construction sector saw a 29.30% increase.
• Accommodation and food services posted a 27.30% increase, very close to the average of 27% for all sectors.
• Average labour cost statistics state that Public administration and defence recorded a rise of 25.90%, and the arts, entertainment, recreation, and other service activities registered a growth of 24.80%.
• The professional, science and technology sector also recorded a 24.40% increase, while the industry saw a 24% growth.
• Sectors such as human health and social work, wholesale and retail distribution, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles registered the same increase of 20.20%.
• There was a slightly lesser increase of 19.80% for financial, insurance, and real estate, while education followed with an increase of 18.70%.
• Transportation and storage recorded the smallest change, having a minuscule rise of 0.90%. This data indicates significant variations in non-wage labour cost growth across different sectors.

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Average Labour Cost Per Hour

(Reference: enterpriseappstoday.com)

• Generally, part-time employees incur a less expensive labour cost compared to full-time employees. Normally, they work less than 35 hours a week.
• On average, their industry-wide hourly wage is about USD 15, while with benefits and taxes included, the average total labour cost incurred by each part-time worker is about USD 26 per hour.
• According to average labour cost statistics, Full-time employees work 35 hours or more in a week and normally incur higher labour costs because of extra perks and taxes.
• Average earnings for full-time workers in the United States come in at about USD 30 per hour; when backing out benefits and taxes, this rises to approximately USD 39 per hour.
• Overtime work costs more than regular hours because it is compensated at a different and higher pay rate.
• Overtime pays, on average, USD 42 per hour across industries; with benefits and taxes, that average total hourly cost increases to USD 53.
• Double-time means that hours are paid at two times the regular hourly rate and include holidays or special circumstances; thus, costs are even higher than for overtime work.
• Those double-time hours average USD 56 per hour, while total employee costs, which include benefits and taxes, amount to USD 67 per hour.
• Flexible work arrangements, such as job sharing, telecommuting, and reduced-week work schedules, can fundamentally change the balance of work-life productivity and labour costs.
• The International Labour Organisation has established that productivity could be improved by as much as 30% without increasing labour expenditure costs by up to 20%.

Job Vacancy Rate

(Reference: cso.ie)

• Average labour cost statistics state that in the second quarter of 2024, the job vacancy rate or the percentage of job openings still available on the last working day of the quarter decreased to 1.1% from 1.3% in the same second quarter of 2023.
• This was constant at 1.1% at the end of the first quarter of 2024, adding up to Professional, Scientific, and Technical Activities, which had the highest job vacancy rate at 2.2% in Q1 2024, followed closely by the Transportation and Storage sector, with a vacancy rate of 1.8%.
• By the end of the second quarter, there were around 26,400 job vacuums, which displaced around 2,000 as compared to the same time last year, and this number is rounded off to the nearest hundred.

Average Labour Cost Demographics

• Variations in labour costs can occur because of demographical differences in the total workforce age, gender, educational qualification, race, ethnicity, disability status, and immigrant status.
• Average labour cost statistics reveal that A younger worker aged 16-19 earns around USD 11 per hour while a person aged between 25 and 54 earns, on average, around USD 26 per hour.
• The older workers aged 55 and above earned an average of USD 23 per hour. The employees are underpaid mainly because they do not have any training and experience.
• Women, on average, get USD 22 per hour, while men earn approximately USD 27 per hour.
• The reasons behind this gender difference in pay include discrimination, differences in education and experience, and occupational segregation. Hence, most women work part-time or have lower-paid jobs.
• Education counts as a very important aspect in the determination of labour costs. The average hourly earnings of persons with only a high school diploma are USD 18. On the contrary, those who have a bachelor’s degree or a higher qualification earn more than USD 36 hourly.
• The figures are also coloured by racial and ethnic differences. The average hourly earnings at which white employees earn USD 28 are matched by the hourly earnings of black employees at USD 21 and those of Hispanic or Latino employees at USD 20.
• Some of the reasons that could account for such differences include prejudice, differences in training, or occupational segregation.
• Workers of colour are generally found in low-paying, unstable jobs, which remain one of the barriers to closing the wage gap.
• Also, the earnings of those with disabilities differ because an average American with a disability is offered USD 18 per hour wages while, on the other hand, the able-bodied earn USD 27 per hour.
• This is a clear indication of the disjunction between education and training opportunities, along with discrimination in some instances.
• Immigration greatly affects labour costs. Most undocumented workers earn around USD 10 per hour, with legal immigrants laughing all the way to the bank earning about USD 18 per hour.
• These differences are possibly associated with insecure job conditions and no legal protection for undocumented migrant labourers.

Relative Change In Average Labour Cost By Economy

(Source: ec.europa.eu)

• Average labour cost statistics state that in the European Union, hourly labour costs increased by 5.3% in the whole economy between 2022 and 2023, and a slightly lower increase of 4.8% was recorded in the euro area. All EU Member States have reported an upsurge in hourly labour costs in the euro area.
• The biggest increases were seen in Croatia with 14.2%, followed by Lithuania with 12.4% and Estonia with 11.7%.
• In non-euro countries, similarly, labour costs have been indicated to have increased across the board under national currencies.
• The highest was Hungar with an increase of 17.0%, Romania at 16.5%, Bulgaria at 14.0%, and Poland at 12.4%. In contrast, the smallest increase was in Denmark, with labour costs increasing by 2.7%.

Conclusion

Average labour cost statistics continued to rise in 2024 but at a much slower pace compared to previous years. The decline in wage and benefit cost growth, however, indicates a restraining labor market which may have short-term implications in terms of inflation levels and economic policymaking.

Trends such as these will play a crucial role in making the critical decisions necessary in an ever-changing economic realm.