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Published: 20 February 2018

Unemployment rate 8.8 per cent in January

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in January 2018 was 238,000, which was 4,000 fewer than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.8 per cent, having been 9.2 per cent in January of the year before. There were 71,000 more employed than in January of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 51,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2008/01–2018/01, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2008/01–2018/01, persons aged 15–74

In January 2018, the number of employed persons was 2,462,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was 71,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 31,000 more employed men and 41,000 more employed women than in January 2017.

In January, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.3 per cent, having been 67.0 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 2.0 percentage points from last year’s January to 70.0 per cent. Women's employment rate rose by 2.6 percentage points to 68.5 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 70.9 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 238,000 unemployed in January 2018 (margin of error ±19,000), i.e. 4,000 fewer than in January of the year before. The number of unemployed men was 116,000 and that of women 122,000.

At 8.8 per cent, the unemployment rate in January was 0.4 percentage points lower than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent and women’s 9.3 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent.

In January, there were a total of 624,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 232,000 were employed and 50,000 were unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 281,000. 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 17.7 per cent, which was 5.8 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 18.3 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population of the same age was 8.0 per cent.

There were 1,425,000 persons in the inactive population in January 2018, which was 51,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 140,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 22,000 fewer than in January 2017.

Changes in employment 2017/01–2018/01 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2017/01 2018/01 2017/01 - 2018/01
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 109 4 125 0,4
Active population total 2 633 2 700 2,6
Employed 2 391 2 462 3,0
– employees 2 076 2 147 3,4
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 314 315 0,2
Unemployed 242 238 –1,7
Inactive population 1 475 1 425 –3,4
– persons in disguised unemployment 162 140 –13,5
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 67,0 69,3 2,3
Unemployment rate 9,2 8,8 –0,4
Activity rate 64,1 65,5 1,4
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.
The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

At the end of January 2018, there were altogether 286,000 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 57,000 lower than in last year’s January.

Unemployment fell in January from the corresponding period in 2017 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Pirkanmaa (-23%), Satakunta (-21%) and Ostrobothnia (-21%). At the end of January, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 17,000, which was 7,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 121,000 at the end of January, which was 1,000 fewer than in January of the previous year. Altogether, 4.5 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 35,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 8,000 lower than in January of the year before. During this January, 75,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 16,000 more than in January 2017.

Changes 2017/01–2018/01 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

  Year/Month Change
2017/01 2018/01 2017/01 - 2018/01
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 343 286 –16,6
– unemployed over a year 122 90 –26,4
Services, total 122 121 –0,5
– employed 22 24 8,0
– in labour market training, in training 23 20 –14,1
– engaged in work/training trials 12 11 –4,6
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 65 66 2,3
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 58 75 27,7
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:
Petri Syvänen tel. +358 29 504 8050, 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 Economic Affairs and Employment

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 2018, January. 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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Updated 20.02.2018

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. January 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2018/01/tyti_2018_01_2018-02-20_tie_001_en.html