Wage, salary increase slightly in Q1

The nominal earnings of wage and salary earners rose by 0.3 per cent in January–March 2017 when compared to the respective period in 2016, according to preliminary data of Statistics Finland.

Real earnings fell by 0.7 per cent compared to the first quarter of the previous year, because the rise in consumer prices was faster than that in earnings level in the first quarter of 2017.

According to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data, the nominal earnings of wage and salary earners rose in January to March 2017 by 0.8 per cent in the private sector from the corresponding period in 2016 and decreased by 1.1 per cent in both the central and local government sectors.

The drop in the public sector was caused by the fact that the cut in holiday bonuses agreed on in the Competitiveness Pact has been taken into consideration in the index of wage and salary earnings.

The cut in holiday bonuses has a negative effect on the index of wage and salary earnings in the central and local government sectors starting from the first quarter of 2017.