Wage, salary earnings raise by 2.2% in Q3, 2018

The nominal earnings of wage and salary earners rose by 2.2 per cent on average in October to December 2018 when compared to the respective period in 2017, according to Statistics Finland.

Real earnings rose by 0.8 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year, because the rise in earnings level was faster than that in consumer prices.

The nominal earnings of wage and salary earners rose from October to December 2017 to the corresponding period in 2018 by 2.3 per cent in the private sector, by 2.3 per cent in the central government sector and by 1.7 per cent in the local government sector.

Compared to the year before, the average increase in the level of earnings during 2018 was 1.8 per cent, whereas the increase in real earnings was 0.7 per cent according to preliminary data.

The index for regular earnings describes the permanent change in earnings better than the index of wage and salary earnings because it does not take into account performance-based bonuses and non-recurring items included in collective agreements.

Regular earnings rose by 2.1 per cent in October to December 2018 when compared with the respective period in 2017. The growth amounted to 2.3 per cent in the private sector, to 2.3 per cent in the central government sector, and to 1.7 per cent in the local government sector.