Unemployment rate 8.4 per cent in July

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in July 2015 was 232,000, which was 38,000 higher than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent, having been 7.0 per cent in July of the year before. There were 27,000 fewer employed than in July of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 7,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2005/07–2015/07, persons aged 15–74

In July 2015, the number of employed persons was 2,523,000, which was 27,000 fewer than a year earlier (margin of error ą32,000). There were 23,000 fewer employed men and 4,000 fewer employed women than in July 2014.

In July, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 70.7 per cent, which was 0.5 percentage points lower than one year before. The employment rate for men fell by 0.9 percentage points to 71.3 per cent. The employment rate for women was 70.2 per cent, or nearly the same as twelve months earlier. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 67.6 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 232,000 unemployed in July 2015, i.e. 38,000 more than one year earlier (margin of error ą19,000). The number of unemployed men was 123,000 and that of women 109,000. The number of unemployed women grew by 22,000 and of unemployed men by 16,000.

At 8.4 per cent, the unemployment rate in July was 1.4 percentage point higher than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent and women’s 8.2 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 9.6 per cent.

In July, there were a total of 644,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 314,000 were employed and 66,000 unemployed. Thus, the labour force of young people (employed and unemployed) totalled 380,000. In July, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 17.4 per cent, which was 5.3 percentage points higher than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 24.0 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 10.2 per cent.

There were 1,345,000 persons in the inactive population in July 2015, which was 7,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 144,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 18,000 more than in July 2014.

Changes in employment 2014/07–2015/07 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2014/07	2015/07	2014/07 - 2015/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 095	4 099	0,1
Active population total	2 743	2 754	0,4
Employed	2 550	2 523	–1,1
– employees	2 203	2 169	–1,5
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	347	353	2,0
Unemployed	193	232	19,8
Inactive population	1 352	1 345	–0,6
– persons in disguised unemployment	125	144	14,4
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	71,2	70,7	–0,5
Unemployment rate	7,0	8,4	1,4
Activity rate	67,0	67,2	0,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column. The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

At the end of July 2015, there were altogether 382,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 31,000 higher than in last year's July.

The number of unemployed job seekers increased in July from the corresponding period in 2014 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Uusimaa (14%), South Ostrobothnia (11%), and North Savo (11%). At the end of July, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 24,000, which was 1,000 more than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 101,000 at the end of July, which was 3,000 fewer than in last year's July. Altogether, 3.7 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 57,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 5,000 higher than in July of the year before. During this July, 33,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 2,000 more than in July last year.

Changes 2014/07–2015/07 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

	Year/Month		Change
	2014/07	2015/07	2014/07 - 2015/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers ¹⁾	350	382	8,9
– unemployed over a year	93	113	22,1
Services, total	105	101	–3,3
– employed	38	31	–19,9
– in labour market training, in training	21	19	–11,3
– engaged in work/training trials	8	9	3,3
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	37	43	16,7
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	31	33	4,8
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

1) The law reform that entered into force at the beginning of 2013 and the change in the lay-off procedure on 1 July increase the number of unemployed job seekers somewhat.

Links: Law reform 1 January 2013
Change in the lay-off procedure 1 July 2013

Contact information for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Petri Syvänen tel. +358 29 504 8050, http://www.temtyollisyyskatsaus.fi

Links

Labour Force Survey tables in databases

About seasonally adjusted trend

The accuracy of figures and the margins of error are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey .

Comparison between the employment statistics of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Job vacancy survey

Latest data on open job vacancies published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Source: Labour force survey 2015, July. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Tuomas Remes 029 551 3682, Kirsi Toivonen 029 551 3535, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (25.8.2015)

Updated 25.8.2015

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. July 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2015/07/tyti_2015_07_2015-08-25_tie_001_en.html