The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased in August

A total of 288,700 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of August. This is 53,800 less than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 40,300 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 102,300, down 25,600 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 108,900, or 17,200 less than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 36,600, representing a decrease of 9,600 from August last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 63.2% of cases between January and August, which is 2.8 percentage points more than the year before.

The number of new vacancies remained the same

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during August totalled 51,300, which is the same as in August the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices amounted to 89,100, up 6,500 on the previous year.

At the end of August, the number of people laid off was 17,600 in the whole country, which is 9,600 less than the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 9,300, representing a decrease of 7,900 from August 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 500 people will be laid off in the near future, which is 3,100 less than a year ago. The number of upcoming lay-offs decreased by 300 from July to August.

At the end of August, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 112,500, down 300 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.5%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in August the number of people in employment was up 7,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 70.5%, which was 0.6 percentage points higher than in August the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 202,000 which is 7,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.5%, or 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous year.

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: http://www.toimialaonline.fi/ path: Statistical base – Labour market – Employment service statistics

Joint publication of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment