314,500 unemployed jobseekers in November

A total of 314,500 unemployed jobseekers were registered at Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of November. This was 86,000 more than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 1,800 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 November, the number of people laid off was 76,400 in the whole country, which was 55,700 more than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 58,000, representing an increase of 43,400 from November the year before. The number of people fully laid off increased by 800 from October.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 85,300, up 24,200 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 115,900, representing an increase of 28,000 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 36,000, representing an increase of 9,400 from November last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 64.1% of cases between January and November, which is 4.1 percentage points less than the year before.

Decrease in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during November totalled 49,400, or 7,200 fewer than in November the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in November amounted to 91,400, showing a decrease of 19,500 from last year.

At the end of November, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 120,200, down 5,000 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 6.9%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in November the number of people in employment was 4,000 less than on the previous year. The employment rate was 71.8%, which was 0.1 percentage points higher than in November the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 187,000, which is 27,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 6.9%, or 0.9 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 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