Wages and salaries sum grew in March 2023, according to new data from Statistics Finland. The working day adjusted wages and salaries sum of the whole economy was 6.8% higher in March 2023 than in March 2022. The seasonally adjusted wages and salaries sum of the whole economy also increased by 0.7% in March from the previous month. The growth was seen in almost all main industries, except for the construction industry, which experienced a decrease of 0.3% compared to March 2022.
The private education industry saw the fastest growth in the working day adjusted wages and salaries sum, increasing by 8.1% in March 2023 year-on-year. Other industries that experienced significant growth were other services (7.3%) and private health and social work (5.0%). The wages and salaries sum increased more moderately in the industries of manufacturing (4.6%), financial and insurance (3.9%), and trade (3.7%).
In the private sector, the working day adjusted wages and salaries sum was 5.7% higher in March than twelve months earlier, while the public sector saw a 12.0% increase. However, the seasonally adjusted wages and salaries sum in the public sector decreased by 0.9% in March from the previous month, possibly due to the transition of social and healthcare personnel to the service of the wellbeing services counties.
The data takes into account the variation in the number of weekdays, including the lengths of months, different weekdays, and holidays, as well as seasonal variation. The growth in wages and salaries is a positive sign for the Finnish economy, indicating a robust recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown.