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238,800 unemployed jobseekers in April

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Publication date 24.5.2022 8.04
Press release
Unemployed jobseekers at the end of April, a total of 238 800, 79 600  deductions from the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 79,600. The number of new vacancies reported in April totalled 111,200. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies amounted to 240,700, which is 87,800 more than a year ago.

At the end of April, a total of 238,800 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 79,600 fewer than a year earlier and 11,900 fewer than in the previous month. 

Of the unemployed jobseekers, 129,900, or 28,800 fewer than in April 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 April, the number of people laid off was 23,500 in the whole country, which was 46,700 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 16,600, representing a decrease of 37,200 from April the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 4,300 from March.

97,000 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 97,000, down 12,800 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 94,800, or 21,400 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 24,700, representing a decrease of 13,900 from April last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 61.6 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and April. This is 5.5 percentage points more than the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported during April totalled 111,200, or 35,100 more than in April the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in April amounted to 240,700, which was 87,800 more than a year ago.

At the end of April, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 115,500, down 1,500 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.


Statistics Finland: The trend of the unemployment rate 6.2%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in April the number of people in employment was 114,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 73.8%, which was 2.3 percentage points higher than in April the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 193,000, which is 69,000 less than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 6.2%, or 1.8 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

 
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