Unit Labour Cost Position for Goods Production Deteriorated Slightly in 2013 Due to Foreign Exchange Rate Development and Economic Stagnation

Hampered by the slow economy, sagging growth in workers' productivity caused a rise in unit labour costs in 2013 by some 2.1 percent over the previous year. Combined with an unfavourable exchange rate (+1.8 percent), this affected the unit labour cost position for Austrian goods producers compared to the average of Austrian trade partners. A comparison with Germany nevertheless found a slight improvement, same as last year. In the long term, however, the unit labour cost position of goods producers in Austria has hardly budged relative to its trading partners since 2003.