387,500 unemployed jobseekers in July 

A total of 387,500 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of July, showing a year-on-year increase of 118,500. The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 29,400 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 July, the number of people laid off was 100,000 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 83,900. The number of people fully laid off totalled 82,000, representing an increase of 70,800 from July the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 35,000 from June.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for more than a year — amounted to 77,700, up 12,600 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 125,700, representing an increase of 32,200 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 54,000, representing an increase of 17,300 from July last year. On average, 62.9 per cent of the unemployment periods of youths ended before reaching three months between January and July. This is 3.2 percentage points less than a year before.

Decrease in number of new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during July totalled 46,300; a decrease of 6,300 from July a year earlier. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices amounted to 86,800 in July, showing a decrease of 13,200 from the previous year.

At the end of July, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 94,300, down 6,900 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.7%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in July the number of people in employment was 50,000 less than on the previous year. The employment rate was 73.2%, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than in July the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 216,000, which is 47,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.7%, 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 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 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: https://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2019-09-13_men_001_en.html

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