Unemployment rate 9.3 per cent in January

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in January 2016 was 245,000, which was 14,000 higher than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 9.3 per cent, having been 8.8 per cent in January of the year before. There were 14,000 fewer employed than in January of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 9,000 higher than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/01–2016/01, persons aged 15–74

In January 2016, the number of employed persons was 2,385,000 (margin of error ą33,000), which was 14,000 lower than a year earlier. There were 4,000 fewer employed men and 10,000 fewer employed women than in January 2015.

In January 2015, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 66.8 per cent, having been 66.7 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 0.3 percentage points from last year’s January to 66.6 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 0.3 percentage points to 66.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.1 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 245,000 unemployed (margin of error ą19,000) in January 2016, i.e. 14,000 more than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 135,000 and that of women 110,000.

At 9.3 per cent, the unemployment rate in January was 0.5 percentage points higher than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 10.0 per cent and women’s 8.5 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 9.4 per cent.

In January, there were a total of 640,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 214,000 were employed and 57,000 were unemployed. Thus, the labour force of young people (employed and unemployed) totalled 272,000. In January, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 21.1 per cent, which was 1.1 percentage points higher than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 21.5 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 9.0 per cent.

There were 1,481,000 persons in the inactive population in January 2016, which was 9,000 more than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 177,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 32,000 more than in the corresponding period of 2015.

Changes in employment 2015/01–2016/01 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2015/01	2016/01	2015/01 - 2016/01
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 101	4 110	0,2
Active population total	2 630	2 630	0,0
Employed	2 399	2 385	–0,6
– employees	2 036	2 036	0,0
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	363	349	–3,7
Unemployed	230	245	6,2
Inactive population	1 471	1 481	0,6
– persons in disguised unemployment	144	177	22,4
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	66,7	66,8	0,0
Unemployment rate	8,8	9,3	0,5
Activity rate	64,1	64,0	–0,1
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 January 2016, there were altogether 368,000 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 9,000 higher than in January 2015.

Unemployment fell in January from the corresponding period in 2015 in the areas of five Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–5%), North Ostrobothnia (–2%), Häme (–2%) and Lapland (–2%). In the areas of all other Employment and Economic Development Centres, unemployment increased: most in Ostrobothnia (8%), Uusimaa (7%) and Southeast Finland (4%). At the end of January, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 31,000, which was 3,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 115,000 at the end of January, which was 7,000 fewer than in January of the previous year. Altogether, 4.4 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 48,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was almost the same as in last year's January. During this January, 52,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 1,000 fewer than in January 2014.

Changes 2015/01–2016/01 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

	Year/Month		Change
	2015/01	2016/01	2015/01 - 2016/01
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers ¹⁾	360	368	2,4
– unemployed over a year	102	121	18,9
Services, total	122	115	–5,8
– employed	33	18	–44,6
– in labour market training, in training	25	22	–10,9
– engaged in work/training trials	11	13	12,1
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	52	61	17,3
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	53	52	–1,9
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 vacancies

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 2016, January. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Tuomas Remes 029 551 3682, Pertti Taskinen 029 551 2690, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (23.2.2016)

Updated 23.02.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. January 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2016/01/tyti_2016_01_2016-02-23_tie_001_en.html