LAMAS January 2016 Agenda Item 3.1.1 LCI state of play Hubertus Vreeswijk Daniel Iscru

Labour Cost Index – State of play Summary LCI transmission status - Indices - Raw and working-day/seasonally adjusted data - Weights - Annual quality reports New developments for 2016 LCI transmissions planned during 2016 SDMX standards changes

LCI transmission status - Indices Member States transmitted LCI files using the SDMX-ML format. The timeliness in 2015 was generally satisfactory. 26 Member States and Norway delivered data on time. Greece, Denmark and Croatia transmitted with some delays. In 2015Q3 a total of 7 countries (Austria, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey) were able to deliver data at t+65 days or earlier.

1. LCI transmission status - Rebasing The main change introduced in 2015 was the rebasing of LCI indices to base year 2012. All MSs started transmitting LCI data in the new base year as from reference quarter 2015Q1, except Greece, which transmitted the 2012 based indices from reference quarter 2015Q2.

1. LCI transmission status - Raw and working-day/seasonally adjusted data All Member States are required to transmit raw, working-day and seasonally adjusted series for LCI, except France, Denmark and Sweden which have a derogation for delivering raw data. Eurostat generally favours indirect working day and seasonal adjustment for the LCI. Eurostat publishes only the total indices, when the resulting rates for the components differ significantly from the total.

1. LCI transmission status - transmission of weights In 2015, 13 Member States transmitted revised weights referring to year 2013 and 15 countries referring to year 2014. SDMX format widely used. Revised weights

1. LCI transmission status - Quality reports 26 Member States delivered before 31 August 2015 Slight delay for Denmark So far no report from Greece

2. New developments for 2016 -transmissions planned during 2016

2. New developments for 2016 - SDMX standards changes Eurostat reviewed the existing code lists used for LCI transmissions in SDMX. The revised SDMX technical guide is provided in document: Doc 7 - Item 3.1.1. - LCI state of play - Annex.doc. Two optional variables included. Upon ECB's request mandatory attributes have been included Test transmissions will take place in April and May 2016 (reference quarter 2015Q4).

6. Conclusions The state of play as regards LCI quarterly transmissions was reviewed. Greece, in particular, is requested to transmit the quality report; Please note the changes in SDMX code lists and planned tests for April / May 2016 ; Please take notice of the LCI release calendar for 2016;

Thank you for your attention!