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Unit labour costs grow slowly in most OECD countries during third quarter 

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20/12/2010 - Unit labour costs in the euro area rose by 0.2 % in the third quarter of 2010 (quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted), slightly up from the 0.1% rate seen in the second quarter. In the United States, unit labour cost growth slowed to 0.1 % compared to a 1.0 % rate in the previous quarter. In Japan, unit labour costs fell by -1.5%, down from a fall of -0.3 % in the second quarter. Increases in unit labour costs reflected faster growth in labour compensation per unit of labour input than in productivity in the euro area and the US. The fall in Japan reflects a drop in labour compensation per unit of labour input, combined with an increase in productivity.

The next publication of the OECD's System of quarterly unit labour cost indexes will be on 17 March 2011.

Contacts
For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media Relations Division on (33) 1 45 24 97 00 or news.contact@oecd.org;  others should contact the Statistics Directorate on stat.contact@oecd.org.

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OECD Main Economic Indicators (MEI)