According to Statistics Finland, the wages and salaries sum of the whole economy was 4.6% greater in the October to December period than in the corresponding period twelve months earlier.
In December, the wages and salaries sum of the whole economy grew by 2.6% from the year before.
One year previously in October to December, the wages and salaries sum of the whole economy increased by 3.5%.
Statistics Finland remarks that the wages and salaries sum rose in the last quarter of 2018 faster than the whole economy in the industries of construction (6%), private health and social work (6%), financial intermediation (5.5%) and other services (5.3%).
The increase in the wages and salaries sum was most moderate in the industries of trade (3.1%) and private education (2%).
Source: Statistics Finland
Private or public sector
The wages and salaries sum in the private sector was 5% greater in October to December than twelve months earlier. The wages and salaries sum of the public sector was 4% higher than in the corresponding period one year previously.
In December, the wages and salaries sum in the private sector increased by 2.1% and in the public sector by 4.7% from one year earlier. In the October to January period one year ago, the wages and salaries sum grew by 5.1% in the public sector and by 0.8% in the private sector from the year before.
The wages and salaries sum refers to the sum total of the gross wages and salaries paid to employees without incentive stock options. The wages and salaries sum is influenced by changes in employment and in the earnings level of wage and salary earners.
