Year-on-year change in average nominal pay, per hour or per employee depending on the measure each country follows; the figure central banks watch.· Wages and salaries per hour worked (labour cost index), industry, construction and services, seasonally adjusted, change over a year· Each country follows its own measure (per hour or per week, bonuses included or not): compare the trend of a country, not levels across countries. For Italy and the EU the card reads hourly wage costs, not the contractual or negotiated wages often quoted.