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Published: 20 March 2018

Unemployment rate 8.6 per cent in February

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in February 2018 was 233,000, which was 9,000 fewer than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent, having been 9.2 per cent in February of the year before. There were 79,000 more employed than in February of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 54,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2008/02–2018/02, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2008/02–2018/02, persons aged 15–74

In February 2018, the number of employed persons was 2,469,000 (margin of error ±32,000), which was 79,000 more than a year earlier. The number of employed men was 50,000 and that of women 29,000 higher than in February 2017.

In February, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.8 per cent, having been 67.3 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 3.1 percentage points from last year’s February to 70.5 per cent. Women's employment rate rose by 2.0 percentage points to 69.2 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 71.1 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 233,000 unemployed in February 2018 (margin of error ±19,000), i.e. 9,000 fewer than one year before. The number of unemployed men was 121,000 and that of women 112,000. There were 17,000 fewer unemployed men and 8,000 more unemployed women than twelve months earlier.

At 8.6 per cent, the unemployment rate in February was 0.6 percentage points lower than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent and women’s 8.6 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent.

In February, there were a total of 623,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 238,000 were employed and 64,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 302,000. In February, 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 1.7 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 in the same age group was 10.2 per cent.

There were 1,423,000 persons in the inactive population in February 2018, which was 54,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 147,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 12,000 fewer than in February 2017.

Changes in employment 2017/02–2018/02 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2017/02 2018/02 2017/02 - 2018/02
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 108 4 125 0,4
Active population total 2 632 2 702 2,7
Employed 2 390 2 469 3,3
– employees 2 050 2 134 4,1
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 340 336 –1,2
Unemployed 242 233 –3,6
Inactive population 1 476 1 423 –3,6
– persons in disguised unemployment 159 147 –7,6
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 67,3 69,8 2,6
Unemployment rate 9,2 8,6 –0,6
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 February 2018, there were altogether 276,000 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 56,000 lower than in February 2016.

Unemployment fell in to February from the corresponding period in 2017 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Pirkanmaa (–23%), Satakunta (–23%) and Ostrobothnia (–20%). At the end of February, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 17,000, which was 6,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 126,000 at the end of February, which was equal to last year's February. Altogether, 4.7 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 33,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 7,000 lower than in the previous year's February. During this February, 69,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 12,000 more than in February last year.

Changes 2017/02–2018/02 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

  Year/Month Change
2017/02 2018/02 2017/02 - 2018/02
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 332 276 –16,8
– unemployed over a year 117 86 –26,3
Services, total 126 126 0,2
– employed 22 25 9,4
– in labour market training, in training 25 21 –16,0
– engaged in work/training trials 12 12 –1,3
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 66 68 3,6
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 57 69 20,5
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

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 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, February. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Ulla Hannula 029 551 2924, Pertti Taskinen 029 551 2690, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 20.03.2018

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. February 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2018/02/tyti_2018_02_2018-03-20_tie_001_en.html