Home > Statistics > Labour cost index > 2009 > 1st quarter > Cost of labour for an hour worked rose by 4.5 per cent in January-March

Published: 8 June 2009

Cost of labour for an hour worked rose by 4.5 per cent in January-March

Private sector labour costs rose by 4.5 per cent in January-March 2009 when compared with the respective period of the year before. Labour costs excluding one-off items, such as performance bonuses, rose by 6.1 per cent in the period.

From 2007 to 2008, labour costs rose by 2.9 per cent and the rise excluding of one-off items was 3.4 per cent.

Statistics Finland has revised the compilation of quarterly statistics on labour costs. The revised statistics provide a timelier than before description of the development of labour costs, as the year 2008 has been adopted as the base year of the statistics (the previous base year was 2003). As from the beginning of 2007, the revised statistics are based on data collected quarterly from over 2,000 enterprises. The new index is a chain index, in which the weight structure is revised annually on the basis of the data collected. The revision means that the annual changes in the index 2007 – 2008 differ from the figures published previously.

As the time series according to the new method is available only since the beginning of 2007, it has not been possible to seasonally adjust the index data. The timing of so-called moving mid-week holidays, such as Easter and Epiphany, affects the comparability of data concerning both the whole year and the first, second and third quarters. A decrease in the number of mid-week holidays slows down the rise in labour costs both in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Statistics Finland publishes seasonally adjusted series when there are enough observations to calculate reliable results.

Calculated by industry, the cost of an hour worked in manufacturing rose by 3.4 per cent in January-March 2009 when compared with the respective time period of the year before. The rise was strongest in the forest industry, at 5.5 per cent, and slowest in the metal industry, at 2.6 per cent. By contrast, labour costs in construction rose by 9.5 per cent in January-March 2009 when compared with the respective time period of the year before. In service industries the rise amounted to 4.9 per cent.

Annual changes of Labour cost in industry, construction, services and all industries according Standard Industrial Classification 2008

Code	Industry	Labour Costs, Year-on-year change
		Labour costs, all	Labour costs, excluding one-off items
B-E	Industry	3,4	6,4
F	Construction	9,5	9,7
G-N	Services	4,9	5,8
B-S	Total	4,5	6,1

Source: Wages, Salaries and Labour Costs

Inquiries: Pekka Haapala (09) 1734 3460

Director in charge: Kari Molnar

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Appendix tables

• Labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2008=100 from first quarter 2008 to the first quarter 2009 (8.6.2009)
• Labour costs, excluding one-off items, Labour Cost Index 2008=100 from first quarter 2008 to the first quarter 2009 1) (8.6.2009)
• Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (8.6.2009)

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Updated 16.6.2009