Labour Cost Index
2017, 4th quarter

Cost of an hour worked decreased by 0.2 per cent in
October to December year-on-year
Private sector labour costs decreased by 0.2 per cent in October to December 2017 when
compared with the respective period of the year before. Seasonally adjusted labour costs
decreased by 0.4 per cent in October to December 2017. There was one less working day in
the fourth quarter of 2017 than in the corresponding period of 2016. In the Labour Cost Index,
a decrease in the number of working days usually has an increasing effect on costs.

In the private sector, labour costs without one-off pay items, such as performance-based bonuses, decreased
by 0.7 per cent in October to December 2017 compared to the corresponding quarter one year ago. Over
the same period, the index of wage and salary earnings for the private sector went up by 0.6 per cent.

Year-on-year change in labour costs in the private sector from the
corresponding quarter of the previous year

In the central government sector, the cost of an hour worked declined by 4.2 per cent in October to
December 2017 when compared with the respective period of the year before. The extension of working
time according to the Competitiveness Pact and lower social insurance contributions had an effect on the
decline in labour costs. Seasonally adjusted labour costs went down by 3.6 per cent. Labour costs without

Quoting is encouraged provided Statistics Finland is acknowledged as the source.Helsinki 9.3.2018

Wages and salaries and Labour
Costs 2018



one-off pay items decreased by 4.1 per cent over the same period. Over the same quarter, the index of
wage and salary earnings in the central government sector went down by 0.8 per cent.

In the local government sector, the cost of an hour worked decreased by 1.3 per cent in October to December
2017 when compared with the respective period of the year before. The decline in labour costs was mainly
caused by lower social insurance contributions. The year-on-year change in labour costs without one-off
pay items was a fall of 1.3 per cent. Over the same period, the index of wage and salary earnings in the
local government sector went down by 1.0 per cent.

Compared to the year before, the average decrease of labour costs during 2017 was 1.1 per cent in the
private sector, 3.8 per cent in the central government sector and 2.6 per cent in the in the local government
sector. The faster rise in hours worked than in wage and salary costs mostly explains the fall in the annual
level labour costs in the private sector. About a third of the decline in costs was due to lower social insurance
contributions. In the public sector, both cuts in holiday bonuses according to the Competitiveness Pact
and lower social insurance contributions had a significant effect on the decrease in annual level labour
costs. Seasonally adjusted average changes in labour costs in 2017 were a decline of 1.1 per cent in the
private sector and of 3.6 per cent in the central government sector.

Year-on-year change in labour costs according to TOL 2008, 4th quarter 2017

Labour costs,
year-on-year change

IndustryCode

Labour costs, seasonally adjustedLabour costs,
without one-off pay items

Labour costs

-0,4-0,7-0,2Total, private sectorB to S

-1,5-0,9-1,4ManufacturingB to E

-1,2-1,6-1,1ConstructionF

1,30,31,4Business service activitiesG to N

-3,6-4,1-4,2Central governmentJ to R

..-1,3-1,3Local governmentD to S

The cost per an hour worked went down by 1.4 per cent in manufacturing industries (B to E) and by 1.1
per cent in construction (F) in October to December 2017. In business service activities (G to N), the cost
of an hour worked went up by 1.4 per cent over the same period.

In manufacturing industries in the fourth quarter of 2017, there was a rise of 1.3 per cent in the food
industry and of 0.8 per cent in the chemical industry in the cost of an hour worked. In the metal industry
and the forest industry labour costs went down by 3.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. Among service
industries, the biggest rise in costs, 6.1 per cent, was in information and communication. The rise in costs
was due to the growth in wages and salaries subject to preliminary withholding tax. In transportation and
storage, costs increased by 0.9 per cent.

The seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked in all manufacturing (B to E) went down by 1.5 per cent
in October to December 2017 compared with the corresponding period last year. In construction (F), the
seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked decreased by 1.2 per cent and in business service activities (G
to N) increased by 1.3 per cent.

In manufacturing industries seasonally adjusted cost of an hour worked went down by 3.4 per cent in the
metal industry and up by 1.4 per cent in the food industry in the October to December period of 2017 from
the same period of the previous year. In business service activities, seasonally adjusted costs rose by 2.7
per cent in trade, by 6.0 per cent in communication activities and by 0.8 per cent in transportation and
storage. In financial and insurance activities there was a 0.5 per cent fall in the seasonally adjusted costs.

2



The Labour Cost Index measures the change in wage and salary costs calculated per hour worked. Hours
actually worked refer to the working hours an employee has spent on his/her actual duties. Hours worked
include Sunday and overtime work but not paid hours off work, like the hours of annual leaves, national
holidays or paid sickness absences.

In the index, hours worked or the structure of personnel have not been standardised. The cost of an hour
worked is calculated directly as the ratio of industry-specific wages and salaries sum and social insurance
contributions to the hours worked for each quarter. The change in average labour costs is affected by
changes in regular earnings, performance-based bonuses and other one-off pay components, social insurance
contributions, as well as changes in the number of hours worked and the structure of the labour force.

3



Contents

Tables
Appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2012=100..................................................................................5

Appendix table 2. Labour costs, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index 2012=100.................................................5

Appendix table 3. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, Labour Cost Index 2012=100..........................................7

Appendix table 4. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index 2012=100.........8

Appendix table 5. Seasonally adjusted labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2012=100...................................................9

Appendix table 6. Seasonally adjusted labour costs, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index 2012=100...............10

Appendix table 7. Standard Industrial Classification 2008.......................................................................................10

Revision of data.........................................................................................................................................................11

4



Appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2012=100

Whole
year
2017*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Whole
year
2016*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard
Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

104,396,0106,4112,9101,9105,496,2109,3111,4104,8
Total,private
sector

B-S

103,592,3106,3113,3102,0105,893,7112,1110,3107,3IndustryB-E

103,592,2106,0113,7102,1105,793,5111,9110,2107,4ManufacturingC

107,296,3110,2116,5105,7104,295,1107,6110,4103,7Food industry10, 11

108,494,0107,8125,4106,1109,494,2105,9123,2114,3Forest industry16, 17

104,791,9105,1116,2105,6104,691,2104,9109,0113,5
Chemical
industry

19-22

101,290,2105,4109,699,4106,393,4118,6107,4105,8Metal industry24-30

106,098,7108,7113,1103,3107,299,8111,5111,1106,4ConstructionF

105,898,3107,3114,3103,2105,597,0107,7113,0104,4

Services of the
business
economy

G-N

109,8100,5110,4119,0109,4107,397,8108,3115,6107,6
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

102,195,8106,3110,196,1103,795,0109,3110,6100,0
Transportation
and storage

H

109,3101,8115,6115,5104,4107,596,0112,1115,4106,6
Information and
communication

J

107,198,899,7127,1102,9108,698,1101,0128,1107,1

Financial and
insurance
activities

K

99,390,2101,9113,191,9103,394,2104,4115,099,4
TotalState

sector, J-R

105,096,1120,2109,094,8107,897,4125,3109,299,4

TotalLocal
government
sector, D-S

*Preliminary data

Appendix table 2. Labour costs, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index 2012=100

Change
2017/
2016*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Change
2016/
2015*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard
Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

-1,1-0,2-2,71,3-2,80,61,52,1-2,51,6
Total,private
sector

B-S

-2,2-1,4-5,22,8-5,00,60,33,6-3,32,1IndustryB-E

-2,1-1,4-5,23,2-4,90,70,23,8-3,32,3ManufacturingC

2,91,32,45,52,0-1,62,8-0,1-5,5-2,8Food industry10, 11

-1,0-0,21,81,8-7,1-1,1-0,6-2,3-3,82,6Forest industry16, 17

0,10,80,36,6-6,9-0,81,6-3,3-3,93,0Chemical industry19-22

-4,8-3,4-11,12,1-6,01,8-1,08,2-3,32,9Metal industry24-30

-1,1-1,1-2,51,8-2,90,10,72,1-1,7-0,4ConstructionF

5



Change
2017/
2016*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Change
2016/
2015*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

0,21,4-0,31,1-1,20,72,01,9-2,11,5

Services of the
business
economy

G-N

2,42,72,03,01,72,33,14,0-0,32,7
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

-1,60,9-2,7-0,4-3,90,21,80,3-3,12,5
Transportation
and storage

H

1,76,13,00,1-2,0-0,41,21,6-3,1-0,7
Information and
communication

J

-1,30,8-1,4-0,7-3,91,12,63,0-2,83,0

Financial and
insurance
activities

K

-3,8-4,2-2,4-1,6-7,5-1,5-0,2-3,0-5,43,9
TotalState

sector, J-R

-2,6-1,3-4,1-0,1-4,60,92,91,6-2,62,3

TotalLocal
government
sector, D-S

*Preliminary data

6



Appendix table 3. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, Labour Cost Index 2012=100

Whole
year
2017*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Whole
year
2016*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard
Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

103,599,1107,1106,3101,4104,899,8109,0105,9104,7
Total,private
sector

B-S

103,597,1108,7107,2101,0104,798,0109,8105,3105,7IndustryB-E

103,596,9108,6107,5101,2104,497,6109,4105,2105,6ManufacturingC

106,399,8109,8110,5105,2104,099,0107,7105,9103,4Food industry10, 11

107,097,5110,6115,1104,9107,897,3107,7114,0112,0Forest industry16, 17

102,696,4108,0105,9100,3103,696,0107,0102,5109,0
Chemical
industry

19-22

102,495,8108,9105,499,6104,597,8112,0103,7104,5Metal industry24-30

103,799,2105,9107,3102,6105,8100,8109,5106,7106,1ConstructionF

104,7100,9108,2107,0102,7105,3100,6109,0106,7104,7

Services of the
business
economy

G-N

108,8103,9113,3111,0107,1107,0101,9111,5108,4106,1
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

101,798,5104,9105,697,9103,497,9107,6106,2102,0
Transportation
and storage

H

105,8101,7112,5106,0103,2106,9100,3112,0108,4106,8
Information and
communication

J

105,2103,4103,6110,4103,4107,0103,8105,2110,4108,8

Financial and
insurance
activities

K

100,594,1106,1106,595,2103,598,1108,3104,7103,0
TotalState

sector, J-R

106,199,9117,9108,797,9107,9101,3119,8107,5102,9

TotalLocal
government
sector, D-S

*Preliminary data

7



Appendix table 4. Labour costs, excluding one-off items, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index
2012=100

Change
2017/
2016*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Change
2016/
2015*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard
Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

-1,3-0,7-1,70,4-3,10,52,11,2-2,41,3
Total,private
sector

B-S

-1,1-0,9-1,01,8-4,40,11,80,4-3,11,4IndustryB-E

-0,9-0,8-0,72,2-4,20,01,80,3-3,21,6ManufacturingC

2,20,82,04,31,8-1,43,20,8-6,5-2,4Food industry10, 11

-0,70,22,70,9-6,3-0,9-0,6-2,5-2,92,5Forest industry16, 17

-0,90,40,93,4-8,0-1,11,9-3,0-4,92,2Chemical industry19-22

-2,0-2,1-2,81,6-4,60,41,80,9-2,71,9Metal industry24-30

-1,9-1,6-3,40,5-3,30,20,92,2-2,0-0,1ConstructionF

-0,50,3-0,80,2-1,90,92,22,0-1,91,3

Services of the
business
economy

G-N

1,72,01,62,40,92,03,23,9-0,31,6
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

-1,60,6-2,5-0,6-4,00,11,80,0-3,42,4
Transportation
and storage

H

-1,01,40,4-2,2-3,40,51,12,4-1,90,7
Information and
communication

J

-1,7-0,3-1,50,1-5,02,03,93,4-2,43,6

Financial and
insurance
activities

K

-3,0-4,1-2,01,7-7,5-1,4-0,1-2,8-5,73,9
TotalState

sector, J-R

-1,6-1,3-1,61,2-4,90,92,81,3-2,52,2

TotalLocal
government
sector, D-S

*Preliminary data

8



Appendix table 5. Seasonally adjusted labour costs, Labour Cost Index 2012=100

Whole
year
2017*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Whole
year
2016*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard
Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

104,3105,1103,6104,3104,1105,4105,5106,4104,6105,3
Total,private
sector

B-S

103,4103,7102,5104,1103,3105,7105,3107,9104,4105,4IndustryB-E

103,4103,7102,4104,2103,2105,6105,2107,9104,1105,3ManufacturingC

107,2108,4107,0108,2105,1104,2106,9104,5102,5103,0Food industry10, 11

108,2108,6109,2108,2106,7109,2108,7107,5108,6112,0Forest industry16, 17

104,6105,2104,1106,6102,6104,5104,5103,5102,6107,5Chemical industry19-22

101,0100,898,4103,9100,8105,9104,3110,4102,1106,8Metal industry24-30

105,9105,9105,6107,0105,1107,1107,1107,9105,9107,4ConstructionF

105,8107,1105,4105,6105,0105,6105,8105,8104,5106,2
Services of the
business economy

G-N

109,8110,3109,5110,1109,4107,3107,4107,4106,9107,5
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

102,1104,0101,2102,2101,1103,7103,3103,9102,5105,0
Transportation
and storage

H

109,4113,8111,1107,0105,9107,5107,4107,8106,9108,1
Information and
communication

J

106,8107,1106,7106,8106,5107,8107,6108,0107,2108,4

Financial and
insurance
activities

K

99,999,499,299,5101,6103,6103,1101,4102,9107,1

TotalState
sector,
J-R

*Preliminary data

9



Appendix table 6. Seasonally adjusted labour costs, percentage changes, Labour Cost Index
2012=100

Change
2017/
2016*

2017/4*2017/3*2017/2*2017/1*Change
2016/
2015*

2016/4*2016/3*2016/2*2016/1*

Standard Industrial
Classification

Industry
code

-1,1-0,4-2,6-0,3-1,10,71,32,1-1,00,3Total,private sectorB-S

-2,2-1,5-5,1-0,3-2,00,70,23,4-0,8-0,2IndustryB-E

-2,1-1,4-5,10,1-2,00,70,13,6-0,90,0ManufacturingC

2,81,42,45,62,0-1,42,8-0,1-5,5-2,8Food industry10, 11

-1,0-0,11,5-0,3-4,8-1,2-0,7-2,2-2,10,4Forest industry16, 17

0,10,70,63,9-4,6-0,81,3-2,9-2,61,0Chemical industry19-22

-4,6-3,4-10,81,7-5,61,8-1,36,9-1,93,6Metal industry24-30

-1,1-1,2-2,11,1-2,10,20,31,9-1,50,0ConstructionF

0,21,3-0,31,1-1,10,81,91,9-2,01,5
Services of the
business economy

G-N

2,32,71,93,01,72,43,14,0-0,32,7
Wholesale and
retail trade

G

-1,50,8-2,5-0,4-3,70,31,60,4-3,12,5
Transportation and
storage

H

1,86,03,00,1-2,0-0,31,21,6-3,1-0,7
Information and
communication

J

-1,0-0,5-1,2-0,4-1,80,80,71,1-0,11,7
Financial and
insurance activities

K

-3,6-3,6-2,2-3,3-5,1-1,2-0,6-2,9-3,32,0

TotalState
sector,
J-R

*Preliminary data

Appendix table 7. Standard Industrial Classification 2008

CodeStandard
Industrial
Classification

BMining and quarrying

CManufacturing

DElectricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

EWater supply; sewerage; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

FConstruction

GWholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

HTransportation and storage

IAccommodation and food service activities

JInformation and communication

KFinancial and insurance activities

LReal estate activities

MProfessional, scientific and technical activities

NAdministrative and supprt service activities

OPublic administration and defence; compulsory social security

PEducation

QHuman health and social work activities

RArts, entertainment and recreation

SOther service activities

10



Revision of data
The data of the statistics have become revised according to the table below. For more information about
data revisions, see Section 3 of the quality description (in Finnish).

Revisions to the Labour Cost Index, year-on-year-change1)

Revision, %-pointsYear-on-year change, %QuarterLabour cost index

1st releaseLatest release 9.3.2018

-0,1-2,4-2,502/2016Private sector, original series

0,02,12,103/2016

-0,21,71,504/2016

0,2-3,0-2,801/2017

0,11,21,302/2017

-0,3-2,4-2,703/2017

0,0-5,4-5,402/2016State sector, original series

0,0-3,0-3,003/2016

0,0-0,2-0,204/2016

0,0-7,5-7,501/2017

0,0-1,6-1,602/2017

0,0-2,4-2,403/2017

0,0-2,6-2,602/2016Local government sector, original series

1,20,41,603/2016

0,12,82,904/2016

0,2-4,8-4,601/2017

0,9-1,0-0,102/2017

0,3-4,4-4,103/2017

1st release refers to the point of time when data for the reference period were first published. Revision describes the difference
on annual change percentages between the first and the latest release. The revisions are calculated from rounded numbers.

1)

Revisions to data on annual changes in the seasonally adjusted labour cost index

Revision, %-pointsYear-on-year change, %QuarterLabour cost index

1st releaseLatest release 9.3.2018

-0,1-0,9-1,002/2016Private sector, seasonally adjusted series

0,31,82,103/2016

-0,41,71,304/2016

-0,2-0,9-1,101/2017

-0,50,2-0,302/2017

-0,2-2,4-2,603/2017

11



Wages and salaries and Labour Costs 2018

Inquiries
029 551 3460Pekka Haapala
029 551 3525Annina Rouvinen
029 551 3465Petri Ruohonen
029 551 3645Maija Lahtinen

Director in charge:
Sami Saarikivi
 
tvkindeksi@stat.fi
www.stat.fi
Source: Wages, Salaries and Labour Costs, Statistics Finland

ISSN 1796-0479Communication and Information Services, Statistics Finland
= Official Statistics of
Finland

tel. +358 29 551 2220
www.stat.fi

ISSN 1798-3746 (pdf)
Publication orders, Edita Publishing Oy
tel. +358 20 450 05
www.editapublishing.fi