Long-term unemployment continued to fall in May

A total of 291,500 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of May. This is 40,600 less than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 12,800 from the previous month. The figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for more than a year — amounted to 106,500, down 18,500 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 112,900, or 12,100 less than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 35,100, representing a decrease of 6,700 from May last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 62.3% of cases between January and May, which is 2.5 percentage points more than the year before.

Increase in number of new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during May totalled 52,100, or 3,900 more than in May the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in May amounted to 97,400, which is 5,300 more than a year ago.

At the end of May, the number of people laid off was 21,800 in the whole country, which is 9,100 less than the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 12,600, representing a decrease of 7,400 from May the year before.

The number of advance declarations of employers regarding potential lay-offs has decreased. According to the advance declarations, it is possible that 1,900 people will be laid off in the near future, which is 1,100 less than a year ago. The number of upcoming lay-offs decreased by 900 from April to May.

At the end of May, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 124,300, up 2,700 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 10.7 per cent

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey in May 2017, the number of employed persons was 16,000 more than one year earlier. The employment rate grew by 0.8 percentage points from last year to 69.4 per cent. According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 297,000 unemployed in May 2017, i.e. almost the same as in May of the year before. At 10.7 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.1 percentage points lower in May than one year earlier.

Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey

The information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and monitoring of upcoming lay-offs, and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.

In the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, persons that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition for being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work within two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.

Further information on the differences in the statistics

Inquiries:
Petri Syvänen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 8050

Links:
Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Information on upcoming lay-offs
Key definitions of the Employment Service Statistics
More detailed information on the Employment Service Statistics is available in the Ministry’s ‘Sector Online’ information system: www.toimialaonline.fi/ path: Statistical base – Labour market – Employment service statistics
Joint publication of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment