Decrease in unemployed jobseekers in October

A total of 272,500 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of October. This was 56,400 fewer than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers was down by 3,100 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 94,700, down 28,100 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 106,300, or 19,100 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 32,300, representing a decrease of 8,700 from October last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 66.4% of cases between January and October, which is 3.8 percentage points more than the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during October totalled 47,700, or 7,700 more than in October the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in October amounted to 89,500, which was 13,100 more than a year ago.

At the end of October, the number of people laid off was 18,600 in the whole country, which was 11,400 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 10,100, representing a decrease of 9,600 from October the year before.

The number of advance declarations by employers regarding upcoming lay-offs has decreased. According to the advance declarations, it is possible that 1,000 people will be laid off in the near future, which is 1,000 less than a year ago. The number of upcoming lay-offs decreased by 300 from September to October.

At the end of October, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 125,700, down 3,200 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.3%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in October the number of people in employment was up 46,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 70.0%, which was 1.6 percentage points higher than in October the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 197,000 which is 20,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.3%, or 0.8 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 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:
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’ statistical base: www2.toimialaonline.fi/ path: Statistical base – Labour market – Employment service statistics
Joint publication of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment