In the European Union, the hourly labor cost increased by 4.3% in the last quarter of last year compared to the same period of the previous year. The European Statistics Office (Eurostat) released data on hourly labor costs in the EU countries in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the Eurozone, hourly labor costs showed a 3.7% increase in the fourth quarter compared to the same period of the previous year. In the 27 EU member countries, the average hourly labor cost increased by 4.3% in the last quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2023. In the EU, hourly labor costs in the last quarter increased by 4.9% in the industrial sector, 4.5% in the construction sector, and 4.2% in the service sector. Among the EU countries, Croatia saw the highest increase in labor costs in the last quarter at 13.9%, followed by Poland at 13.8%, Romania at 13.1%, Bulgaria at 13%, and Hungary at 11.9%. These costs rose by 4.4% in Germany, 1.7% in France, 4.3% in Italy, and 3.2% in Spain.