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Long-term unemployment continued to decrease in June

työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö
Publication date 24.7.2018 9.04
Press release

A total of 272,700 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of June. This was 47,400 fewer than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 31,100 from the previous month. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, which was published on 24 July 2018.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 77,100, down 28,800 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 96,700, or 16,900 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 38,200, representing a decrease of 7,700 from June last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 68.3% of cases between January and June, which is 5.2 percentage points more than the year before.

Decline in lay-offs

At the end of June, the number of people laid off was 15,900 in the whole country, which is 5,400 less than the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 9,400, representing a decrease of 3,200 from June the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during June totalled 50,100, or 6,000 more than in June the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in June amounted to 102,900, which is 17,800 more than a year ago.

At the end of June, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 114,000, up 5,600 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 6.7%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in June the number of people in employment was up 99,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 75.5%, which was 3.0 percentage points higher than in June the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 192,000, which is 57,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 6.7%, or 2.1 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 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 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 stat.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2016-08-23_men_001_en.html

Inquiries:
Heikki Räisänen, Research Director, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 29 504 7118

Links:
Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment tem.fi/en/employment-bulletin

Key definitions of the Employment Service Statistics 
tem.fi/en/release-dates-of-statistics-and-description-and-quality-description

More detailed information on the Employment Service Statistics is available in the Ministry’s ‘Sector Online’ statistical base: toimialaonline.fi/ path: Statistical base – Labour market – Employment service statistics

Joint publication of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tie_en.html

 
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