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Published: 21 June 2016

Unemployment rate 10.8 per cent in May

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in May 2016 was 298,000, which was 27,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 10.8 per cent, having been 11.8 per cent in May of the year before. There were 16,000 more employed than in May of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 20,000 higher than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/05–2016/05, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/05–2016/05, persons aged 15–74

In May 2016, the number of employed persons was 2,450,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was 16,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 28,000 more employed men and 12,000 fewer employed women than in May 2015.

In May 2016, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 68.6 per cent, having been 68.0 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 1.4 percentage points from last year’s May to 69.7 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 0.4 percentage points to 67.4 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.5 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 298,000 (margin of error ±22,000) unemployed in May 2016, i.e. 27,000 fewer than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 162,000 and that of women 136,000.

At 10.8 per cent, the unemployment rate in May was 0.9 percentage points lower than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 11.3 per cent and women’s 10.3 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.9 per cent.

In May, there were a total of 637,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 263,000 were employed and 120,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed, was 383,000. In May, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 31.4 per cent, which was nearly five percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.5 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 18.9 per cent.

There were 1,361,000 persons in the inactive population in May 2016, which was 20,000 more than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 137,000 persons were in  disguised unemployment in May 2016, which was almost the same as one year ago.

Changes in employment 2015/05–2016/05 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2015/05 2016/05 2015/05 - 2016/05
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 099 4 108 0,2
Active population total 2 758 2 747 –0,4
Employed 2 433 2 450 0,7
– employees 2 098 2 097 –0,1
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 335 353 5,2
Unemployed 324 298 –8,2
Inactive population 1 341 1 361 1,5
– persons in disguised unemployment 136 137 0,9
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 68,0 68,6 0,5
Unemployment rate 11,8 10,8 –0,9
Activity rate 67,3 66,9 –0,4
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 May 2016, there were altogether 332,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as unemployed job seekers at the  employment and economic development offices. The number of unemployed job seekers was 3,000 higher than in May 2015.

Unemployment fell in May from the corresponding period in 2015 in the areas of eight Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–6%), Häme (–5%), North Ostrobothnia (–4%), and Lapland (–4%). In the areas of all other Employment and Economic Development Centres, unemployment increased: most in Ostrobothnia (9%), Pirkanmaa (4%) and Uusimaa (4%). At the end of May, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 20,000, which was 3,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 122,000 at the end of May, which was 3,000 fewer than in May of the year before. Altogether, 4.4 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 42,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices, which was 2,000 more than one year ago. During this May, 48,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 9,000 more than in May 2015.

Changes 2015/05–2016/05 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

  Year/Month Change
2015/05 2016/05 2015/05 - 2016/05
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 330 332 0,8
– unemployed over a year 105 125 18,5
Services, total 125 122 –2,6
– employed 32 24 –26,7
– in labour market training, in training 25 23 –9,2
– engaged in work/training trials 13 13 –0,8
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 54 62 14,3
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 39 48 22,4
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

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, May. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Pertti Taskinen 029 551 2690, Joanna Viinikka 029 551 3796, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 21.06.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. May 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2016/05/tyti_2016_05_2016-06-21_tie_001_en.html