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315,800 unemployed jobseekers in September

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Publication date 20.10.2020 8.03
Press release
Graphic: Unemployed jobseekers in September 2020.

A total of 315,800 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of September, an increase of 89,700 from the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 13,900 from the previous month. 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 September, the number of people laid off was 73,600 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 60,000. The number of people fully laid off totalled 56,700, representing an increase of 48,400 from September the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 4,200 from August.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for more than a year — amounted to 81,100, up 18,500 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 113,500, representing an increase of 27,300 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 38,100, representing an increase of 10,200 from September last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 63.7% of cases between January and September, which is 3.4 percentage points less than the year before.

Decrease in number of new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during September totalled 58,100, or 7,400 fewer than in September the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices amounted to 103,000 in September; a decrease of 18,500 from the previous year.

At the end of September, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 113,900, down 6,400 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.6%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in September the number of people in employment was 35,000 less than on the previous year. The employment rate was 72.0%, which was 0.7 percentage points lower than in September the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 208,000, which is 47,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.6%, or 1.7 percentage points higher 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 Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people 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 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: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2016-08-23_men_001_en.html 
Inquiries:
Petri Syvänen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 8050

 
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