Wages, salaries grow by 6.4% in February

The working day adjusted wages and salaries sum of the whole economy was 6.4 per cent higher in February 2023 than in February 2022, according to Statistics Finland.

The seasonally adjusted wages and salaries sum of the whole economy increased by 0.5 per cent in February from the month before.

The working day adjusted wages and salaries sum grew in February 2023 in all other main industries but decreased in financial and insurance compared to February 2022.

The working day adjusted wages and salaries sum grew fastest in the industries of other services (7.6%), private health and social work (6.0%) and private education (5.7%).

The wages and salaries sum increased more moderately in the industries of manufacturing (2.7%), trade (2.4%) and construction (2%) but decreased in the industry of financial and insurance (minus 1.1%).

The working day adjusted wages and salaries sum was 4.9 per cent higher in the private sector in February than twelve months earlier.

The wages and salaries sum in the public sector was 12.5 per cent higher than in the corresponding period one year previously. In the private sector, the seasonally adjusted wages and salaries sum decreased by 1.3 per cent and in the public sector grew by 8.9 per cent in February from the month before.

Wellbeing services counties started operating at the beginning of the year, which is why public sector social and healthcare personnel were transferred to the service of the wellbeing services counties. The transition can affect the changes in the public sector wage sum index.

The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well.