Long-term unemployment continued to fall in May
A total of 241,600 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of May. This was 49,900 fewer than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers was down by 13,000 from the previous month. These 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 at least a year — amounted to 77,300, down 29,200 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 92,900, or 20,000 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.
Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 29,600, representing a decrease of 5,500 from May last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 68.1% of cases between January and May, which is 5.8 percentage points more than the year before.
Decline in lay-offs
At the end of May, the number of people laid off was 15,300 in the whole country, which was 6,500 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 8,200, representing a decrease of 4,400 from May the year before.
Increase in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during May totalled 62,500, or 10,400 more than in May the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in May amounted to 118,600, which was 21,100 more than a year ago.
At the end of May, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 130,600, up 6,300 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 9.3%
According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in May the number of people in employment was up 90,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 72.3%, which was 2.9 percentage points higher than in May the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 261,000, which is 35,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 9.3%, or 1.5 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
Inquiries:
Johanna Alatalo, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 8084
Links:
Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Key definitions of the Employment Service Statistics
Joint publication of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment