Estonian Job Growth: 6.8%(!)

In a very sharp contrast to the dismal employment report from Sweden discussed in the previous post, Estonia reported that job growth was an extraordinary 6.8%(!). This meant that despite a significant increase in the labor force participation rate, the unemployment rate fell from 9.5% to 6.4%.

UPDATE: And the jobs that are being created are, it should be noted, increasingly well paid. Average monthly wages during the first quarter of 2006 rose a full 15.7% and average hourly earnings rose 13.8% (that the monthly number increases more indicates that the average work week increases) compared to a year earlier. Deflated by the 4.4% average inflation rate during the first quarter, this means that real hourly wages rose 9% during the first quarter, with real monthly wages rising 10.8%.