The job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA19) was 1.9% in the second quarter of 2017 up from 1.7% in the second quarter of 2016, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the EU28, the job vacancy rate was 2.0% in the second quarter of 2017, up from 1.8% in the second quarter of 2016.

Among the member states for which comparable data are available, the highest job vacancy rates in the second quarter of 2017 were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.6%), Belgium (3.3%) and Germany (2.7%). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.7%), Bulgaria, Spain and Cyprus (all 0.8%).

Figures from Eurostat also showed that hourly labour costs rose by 1.8% in the euro area (EA19) and by 2.2% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2017, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries per hour worked grew by 2.0% and the non-wage component by 0.8%, in the second quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the EU28, hourly wages & salaries rose by 2.4% and the non-wage component by 1.6% in the second quarter of 2017.

In the second quarter of 2017, the highest annual increases in hourly labour costs for the whole economy were registered in Romania (+18.6%), Hungary (+13.0%), the Czech Republic (+11.1%) with a decrease recorded in Finland (-0.3%).