Unit Labour Costs (ULC) for the total economy grew 0.8% in OECD countries in the second quarter of 2009 and rose 3.6% year-on-year. The strong growth was largely driven by falls in real output (gross domestic product at constant prices) due to the crisis.

The rise in unit labour costs for the total economy in the major seven economies was 0.7% in the second quarter of 2009 which was lower than the 1.3% recorded for the Euro area. Unit labour cost growth for the total economy in the United States remained at 0.6% for the second quarter of 2009, due mainly to a 1.6% fall in labour costs in market services.

Unit labour costs in industry grew 1.5% in the second quarter of 2009 in OECD countries and were up 7.2% year-on-year.

All references to growth are to trend-cycle data.