In the European Union, the hourly labor costs increased by 4.3% in the last quarter of the previous 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 for the fourth quarter of 2024. According to the data, hourly labor costs in the Eurozone showed a 3.7% increase in the fourth quarter compared to the same period of the previous year. In the 27 EU member states, the average hourly labor cost rose by 4.3% in the last quarter of the previous 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 had the highest increase in labor costs in the last quarter, with 13.9%, followed by Poland with 13.8%, Romania with 13.1%, Bulgaria with 13%, and Hungary with 11.9%. These costs rose by 4.4% in Germany, 1.7% in France, 4.3% in Italy, and 3.2% in Spain.