Despite Increase in Unit Labour Costs, Improvement of Austrian Unit Labour Cost Position 2019

Despite sluggish growth in Austrian foreign trade and in manufacturing, the Austrian unit labour cost position in the manufacturing sector improved, compared to the weighted average of the trading partners. This development was partly determined by the unit labour cost dynamics in Germany, where productivity declined significantly in 2019. The exchange rate development of the euro contributed to the improvement of the Austrian unit labour cost position, compared to the average of the non-euro trading partners.