HELSINKI: Private sector labour costs rose by 0.8 per cent in October to December 2015 when compared with the respective period of the year before. Seasonally adjusted labour costs rose by 1.8 per cent during the period, according to Statistics Finland’s data. Labour costs without one-off pay items, such as performance-based bonuses, increased by 0.2 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 1.2 per cent. The cost of an hour worked increased by 0.8 per cent in the central government sector in the last quarter of 2015, compared with the respective period of the year before. Labour costs without one-off pay items increased by 1.0 per cent over the same period.
Seasonally adjusted labour costs went up by 1.0 per cent. Over the same period, the index of wage and salary earnings in the central government sector went up by 1.2 per cent, the data show. In the local government sector, the cost of an hour worked rose by 1.0 per cent. Labour costs without one-off pay items rose by 1.0 per cent. Over the same period, the index of wage and salary earnings in the local government sector went up by 0.7 per cent.
The fourth quarter of 2015 had one working day more than the year before. The cost per an hour worked in manufacturing industries (B to E) grew by 2.3 per cent, in construction (F) by 1.4 per cent), and in business service activities (G to N) by 0.2 per cent.
In manufacturing industries, the decline in the number of hours worked (3.9 per cent) compared to the corresponding quarter last year sped up the growth in costs. Over the same period, wages and salaries subject to preliminary withholding tax contracted by 2.0 per cent according to the data of the Labour Cost Index.
In construction, both wage and salary costs and hours worked diminished. In business service activities, wage and salary costs declined by 1.0 per cent and hours worked decreased by 0.6 per cent. In manufacturing industries, the highest growth in the cost of an hour worked was found in the metal industry, 5.8 per cent.
Labour costs without one-off pay items rose by 1.3 per cent in the metal industry. The cost went up by 1.9 per cent in the forest industry. Among service industries, the growth was the biggest in information and communication activities, 1.6 per cent.
The costs went down by 2.8 per cent in transportation and storage. The seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked in all manufacturing (B to E) went up by 3.5 per cent. In construction, the seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked went up by 2.2 per cent and in business service activities it increased by 0.9 per cent.
The seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked went up by 3.8 per cent in the forest industry and in the metal industry by 7.6 per cent. The costs increased by 3.3 per cent in information and communication activities.
