239,100 unemployed jobseekers in August

The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 41,900. The number of new vacancies reported in August totalled 95,400. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies amounted to 175,500, which is 20,100 more than a year ago.

At the end of August, a total of 239,100 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 41,900 fewer than a year earlier and 33,100 fewer than in the previous month. 

Of the unemployed jobseekers, 135,000, or 15,600 fewer than in August a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

At the end of August, the number of people laid off was 14,800 in the whole country, which was 20,900 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 9,600, representing a decrease of 15,000 from August the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 5,000 from July.

92,300 unemployed in the long term

The number of long-term unemployed — i.e. those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 92,300, down 19,400 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 90,300, or 14,900 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 25,500, representing a decrease of 7,300 from August last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 60.0 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and August. This is 1.4 percentage points more than the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported during August totalled 95,400, or 5,400 more than in August the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in August amounted to 175,500, which is 20,100 more than a year ago.

At the end of August, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 105,900, which is the same number as the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: The trend of the unemployment rate 7.1%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in August the number of people in employment was 30,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 73.6%, which was 1.0 percentage points higher than in August the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 187,000, which is 8,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.1%, or 0.3 percentage points lower than the previous year.

Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey 

This information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics 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 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 of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming 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