Productivity performance did not vary dramatically between northern and southern European countries from 2000 to 2010 – in fact, average annual productivity growth was faster in Greece than in Germany (1% versus 0.7%). But labor costs increased much faster in the south, resulting in differential cost increases that cannot be addressed by devaluation as long as the monetary union endures.
单位劳动成本体现了报酬水平和生产率：生产率的提高能够抵消工资增长的影响。2000—2010年，生产率表现在南欧和北欧国家间并没有显著变化——事实上，平均年生产率增长在希腊比在德国更快（1%对0.7%）。但南欧劳动成本增速要快得多，这导致了成本增长速度差异，且这一差异不能被贬值修正，因为它们同处一个货币联盟。