Home > Statistics > Labour cost index > 2009 > 4th quarter > Cost of labour for an hour worked rose by 2.0 per cent in October-December

Published: 10 March 2010

Cost of labour for an hour worked rose by 2.0 per cent in October-December

Private sector labour costs rose by 2.0 per cent in October-December 2009 when compared with the respective period of the year before. Labour costs excluding one-off items, such as performance bonuses, rose by 1.8 per cent in the period. In the third quarter of 2009 the index of wage and salary earnings rose 2,6 per cent in the private sector.

From 2008 to 2009, labour costs rose by 4.9 per cent and the rise excluding one-off items was 5,0 per cent.

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 the first, second and fourth quarters. An increase in the number of mid-week holidays adds the rise in labour costs in the second quarter of 2009. The fourth quarter of 2009 contained one working day more than the cor-responding quarter of the previous year. Calculatively this slowed down the increase of labour costs by about 1,5 per cent. Statistics Finland publishes seasonally and working day adjusted series when there are enough observa-tions to calculate reliable results.

Calculated by industry, the cost of an hour worked in industry rose by 1.6 per cent in October-December 2009 when compared with the respective time period of the year before. The rise was strongest in the financial and incurance activiteis 6.9 per cent, and costs reduced in Administrative and support service activities, at 7,6 per cent. By contrast, labour costs in construction rose by 2.3 per cent in October-December 2009 when compared with the respective time period of the year before. In service industries the rise amounted to 1.3 per cent.

Source: Wages, Salaries and Labour Costs, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Pekka Haapala (09) 1734 3460, tvkindeksi@stat.fi

Director in charge: Kari Molnar

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Appendix tables

• 1. Labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2008=100 (10.3.2010)
• 2. Labour costs, Percentage changes, Labour Cost Index 2008=100 (10.3.2010)
• 3. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, Labour Cost Index 2008=100 (10.3.2010)
• 4. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, percentage changesm Labour Cost Index 2008=100 (10.3.2010)
• Standard Industrial Classification 2008 (10.3.2010)

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Last updated 10.3.2010