Aug 02, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. A crippling seven-week labor dispute in Finland's forest industry will bring down gross domestic product by 1% this year, the Finnish government said, Associated Press reported. The labor dispute that provoked strikes and a May 18 lockout by employers cost Finland Euro 1.5 billion in lost revenue, the Finance Ministry said in its first estimate of the conflict's economic impact. The figure is slightly lower than what economists had predicted previously. The ministry predicted a GDP growth of 2.0% for 2005, down from its pre-strike estimate of 3.0%. The paper dispute shut out some 24,000 workers in the industry between mid-May and the end of June. Some of the larger companies involved, such as UPM-Kymmene, have reported a profit for the period, while others, including Stora Enso, have posted a slight loss. The forest industry accounts for 8% of gross domestic product and about 25% of all exports. Finland accounts for about 4% of the world's paper production and more than 10% of magazine paper. The ministry also said the Finnish unemployment rate would drop faster than previous estimates, down to 8% this year, and 7.5% in 2006. The report said recent economic growth had brought new jobs at a higher rate than expected. The most recent figure by the government statistics agency put the jobless rate at 8.7% in June, or 239,000 people, down from 10.2% in May.