Unit labour costs (ULCs) in the OECD area fell by 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the third quarter in a row.

Large falls of 1.0%, 2.2% and 2.7% were recorded in the United States, Korea and Japan, respectively. Within Europe, changes in unit labour costs ranged from minus 4.4% in Denmark to 2.4% in Ireland.

Since the start of the economic crisis in the third quarter of 2008, ULCs have shown divergent trends in European and non-European countries. They have risen by 4.6%, 4.5%, 3.7% and 2.3%, in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France, respectively and have fallen by 2.4 % in the United States and 1.8% in Japan.