HELSINKI: Year-on-year change in labour costs in the private sector from the respective quarter of the previous year. Source: Wages, Salaries and Labour Costs, Statistics Finland.Private sector labour costs rose by 1.9 per cent in January to March 2015 compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
Seasonally adjusted labour costs rose by 1.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to Statistics Finland. Labour costs without one-off pay items, such as performance-based bonuses, went up by 0.4 per cent compared to the corresponding period one year ago.
Over the same period, the index of wage and salary earnings for the private sector went up by 1.3 per cent. In the central government sector, the cost of an hour worked went up by 0.9 per cent in January to March 2015 when compared with the respective period of the year before, the data show.
In the local government sector, the cost of an hour worked rose by 2.1 per cent in the first quarter compared with the respective period of the year before. Costs without one-off pay items also rose by 2.1 per cent year-to-year. The first quarter of 2015 had the same number of working days as in 2014. Calculated by industry, the cost of an hour worked went up by 2.9 per cent in all manufacturing during the period compared to the corresponding period of the year before.