Unemployment rate 7.8 per cent in July

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in July 2016 was 214,000, which was 18,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent, having been 8.4 per cent in July of the year before. The number of employed persons was nearly the same as in July of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 25,000 higher than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/07–2016/07, persons aged 15–74

In July 2016, the number of employed persons was 2,525,000 (margin of error ą33,000), which was almost the same as one year earlier. There were 14,000 more employed men and 12,000 fewer employed women than in July 2015.

In July 2016, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 71.1 per cent, having been 70.7 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 1.1 percentage points from last year to 72.4 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 0.3 percentage points to 69.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.4 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 214,000 unemployed (margin of error ą18,000) in July 2016, i.e. 18,000 fewer than in July of the year before. The number of unemployed was 107,000 for both men and women.

At 7.8 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points lower in July than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.6 per cent and women’s 8.1 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.9 per cent.

In July, there were a total of 636,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 325,000 were employed and 54,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed, was 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 14.3 per cent, which was 3.1 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.6 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 8.5 per cent.

There were 1,369,000 persons in the inactive population in July 2016, which was 25,000 more than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 165,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 22,000 more than in July 2015.

Changes in employment 2015/07–2016/07 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2015/07	2016/07	2015/07 - 2016/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 099	4 108	0,2
Active population total	2 754	2 738	–0,6
Employed	2 523	2 525	0,1
– employees	2 169	2 178	0,4
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	353	347	–1,9
Unemployed	232	214	–7,8
Inactive population	1 345	1 369	1,8
– persons in disguised unemployment	144	165	15,3
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	70,7	71,1	0,4
Unemployment rate	8,4	7,8	–0,6
Activity rate	67,2	66,7	–0,5
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 2016, there were altogether 378,000 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 3,000 lower than in July 2015.

Unemployment fell in July from the corresponding period in 2015 in the areas of eleven Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–11%), Häme (–5%), North Ostrobothnia (–5%), and Central Finland (–4%). In the areas of all other Employment and Economic Development Centres, unemployment increased: most in Ostrobothnia (7%), Pirkanmaa (4%) and Uusimaa (2%). At the end of July, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 22,000, which was 2,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 99,000 at the end of July, which was 2,000 more than in last year's July. Altogether, 3.6 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 55,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 2,000 lower than in last year's July. During this July, 36,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 3,000 more than in July last year.

Changes 2015/07–2016/07 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

	Year/Month		Change
	2015/07	2016/07	2015/07 - 2016/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers	382	378	–0,8
– unemployed over a year	113	127	12,5
Services, total	98	99	1,9
– employed	27	23	–14,0
– in labour market training, in training	19	17	–6,5
– engaged in work/training trials	9	8	–1,9
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	43	50	16,0
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	33	36	9,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Heikki Räisänen tel. +358 29 504 7118, http://www.temtyollisyyskatsaus.fi

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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, July. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kirsi Toivonen 029 551 3535, Ulla Hannula 029 551 2924, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (23.8.2016)

Updated 23.08.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. July 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2016/07/tyti_2016_07_2016-08-23_tie_001_en.html