Austria's international unit labour cost position heavily influenced by economic crisis in 2009

In 2009 the economic crisis had a significant impact on the unit labour cost position of Austrian manufacturing. It brought about a decline of per-capita labour productivity, an increase in labour costs and, as a result, a significant increase in unit labour costs. At the same time, the temporary effects of economic policies implemented in response to the economic crisis and the differing extent of the decline in production and employment on an international scale have limited the explanatory power of unit labour costs as a current indicator of international cost competitiveness.