Total hourly labor costs in the Romanian economy rose 5 percent on the year in April to June, the second-biggest increase in the European Union, official data showed Tuesday.

Bulgaria, whose labor costs grew by 8.6 percent on the year in the second quarter, posted the highest increase among member states, EU's statistics office Eurostat said.  In the EU bloc, second quarter labor costs were up 1.6 percent on the year, compared with a 2.1 percent annual growth for the previous quarter.

The highest annual decreases in hourly labor costs were observed in Lithuania (-7 percent), Latvia (-5.8 percent) and Estonia (-2.6 percent). Broken down by economic activities, labor costs in the EU grew by 1.1 percent in industry, 1.7 percent in constructions and 1.9 percent in services.

In Romania, labor costs in industry were up 6.2 percent on the year in the second quarter, while costs in constructions and services rose 1.7 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

Mediafax