BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - A hefty drop in oil costs brought euro zone inflation to its first ever standstill in May, data confirmed on Tuesday, and economists expect consumer prices to start falling in June.
Separately, the European Union's statistics office said wages in the 16 countries using the euro rose 3.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, only marginally below the 3.7 percent growth in the first quarter of 2008.
Employment in the 16-country euro zone fell by a record 1.22 million jobs in the first quarter of this year, which many economists believe was the low point of the recession.
Euro zone consumer prices grew by 0.1 percent month-on-month in May and were unchanged year-on-year. Energy prices rose 0.4 percent on the month and fell 11.6 percent on the year, Eurostat said.
Price growth excluding energy and unprocessed food -- a measure the European Central Bank calls core inflation -- was zero on the month and 1.5 percent year-on-year, down from 1.7 percent in April.
The ECB wants to keep inflation just below 2 percent and cut its main refinancing rate to a record low of 1 percent in May to help the flow of credit in the economy.
Another measure of core inflation which economists often look at and which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices fell to 1.5 percent year-on-year from 1.8 percent.
Belgium, Ireland, France, Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal saw consumer prices fall in May and economists expect more countries will join them in June.
Eurostat data showed wage growth in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, jumped to 6.1 percent year-on-year and total labour costs rose 6.6 percent in the first quarter, almost 2.5 times faster than in the first quarter of 2008 and faster than the 4.8 percent jump in the last quarter of 2008.
In Spain, the euro zone's fourth-biggest economy, wage growth showed little impact from surging unemployment with salaries rising 3.3 percent. Wages in France and Greece fell. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)