A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available.

Latest publication: Labour force survey 2012, April

Published: 24 January 2012

Unemployment rate 7.4 per cent in December

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in December was 192,000, which was 13,000 lower than one year before. The unemployment rate in December 2011 was 7.4 per cent, having been 7.9 per cent twelve months earlier. There were 14,000 more employed persons than in December of the previous year. The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter (October to December) was 6.9 per cent, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than in the respective quarter of 2010.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 1989/01 – 2011/12

In December 2011, the number of employed persons was 2,411,000, which was 14,000 higher than a year earlier. This change fits within the margin of error for the number of employed persons (± 31,000). There were 3,000 fewer employed men and 16,000 more employed women than in December 2010. The number of employed persons grew in the private sector but fell in the public sector.

In December, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 67.1 per cent, which was 0.5 percentage points higher than one year before. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.9 per cent. From the previous year’s December, women’s employment rate rose by 0.8 percentage points to 66 per cent and men’s by 0.2 percentage points to 68.1 per cent.

According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 192,000 unemployed in December 2011, which was 13,000 fewer than in December of the previous year. This change fits within the margin of error for the number of unemployed persons (± 16,000). The number of unemployed men was 114,000 and that of women 78,000.

At 7.4 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.5 percentage points lower in December than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent and women’s 6.3 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent. In December 2011, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 17.8 per cent, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than in the previous year’s December. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 19.1 per cent.

Changes in employment 2010/12 – 2011/12 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2010/12	2011/12	2010/12 - 2011/12
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 051	4 067	0,4
Active population total	2 602	2 603	0,0
Employed	2 397	2 411	0,6
– employees	2 073	2 074	0,0
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	325	337	3,9
Unemployed	204	192	–6,2
Inactive population	1 449	1 464	1,0
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	66,6	67,1	0,5
Unemployment rate	7,9	7,4	–0,5
Activity rate	64,2	64,0	–0,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column. The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Labour Force Survey data for the fourth quarter of 2011

The average number of employed persons in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 2,456,000, or 31,000 higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2010. The number of employed persons increased in the activities of, for instance, human health and social work, information and communication, and financial and insurance intermediation. The number of employed persons decreased in the activities of transport and warehousing, and education.

The average number of unemployed persons in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 181,000, which was 14,000 lower than in the October to December period of 2010. The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of the year was 6.9 per cent, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than in the respective quarter of 2010.

The number of hours worked by employed persons was almost the same in the fourth quarter of 2011 as twelve months previously.

Changes in employment 2010/IV – 2011/IV according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Quarter		Change
	2010/IV	2011/IV	2010/IV - 2011/IV
	1000 persons		Per cent (%)
Active population total	2 621	2 637	0,6
Employed persons total	2 426	2 456	1,3
Unemployed total	195	181	–7,1
– men	109	106	–2,7
– women	86	75	–12,6
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 December 2011, there were altogether 255,000 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 14,000 lower than in December 2010.

Unemployment decreased from the previous year in the areas of all other Employment and Economic Development Centres (ELY) apart from North Karelia (1%). The number of unemployed job seekers decreased most in Häme (–9%), Pirkanmaa (–9%) and North Savo (–8%). At the end of December, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 18,000, which was 4,000 lower than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons covered by labour market policy measures totalled 104,000 at the end of December, which was 2,000 higher than in December of the year before. Altogether 4.0 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy measures.

There were 32,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 2,000 lower than in December of the previous year. During last December, 34,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 1,000 more than in December 2010.

Changes 2010/12– 2011/12 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

	Year/Month		Change
	2010/12	2011/12	2010/12 - 2011/12
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers	269	255	–5,2
– unemployed over a year	58	57	–1,6
Total measures	103	104	1,5
– employed with subsidised measures	35	33	–7,1
– in labour market training	32	26	–16,6
– in trainee and job alternation places	16	18	10,3
– in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies (supported by unemployment benefit)	20	27	38,4
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	33	34	4,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Mr Petri Syvänen, tel. +358 10 604 8050, http://www.tem.fi/employmentbulletin

Links

Labour Force Survey 2010, Employment and unemployment in 2010

Labour Force Survey 2010, Employment relationships and working hours in 2010

Labour Force Survey, Time series data 2001-2010

Differences between the Labour Force Survey and the Employment Service Statistics are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey.

About seasonally adjusted trend

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

Job vacancy survey

Source: Labour force survey 2011, December. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Ari Väisänen (09) 1734 2290, Veli Rajaniemi (09) 1734 3434, Kalle Sinivuori (09) 1734 3524, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (46 pages 636.3 kB)

Tables

Tables in databases

Labour force survey (3 tables)

Appendix tables

Figures

Appendix figure 1. Employed and trend of employed (24.1.2012)
Appendix figure 2. Employment rate and trend of employment rate (24.1.2012)
Appendix figure 3. Unemployed and trend of unemployed (24.1.2012)
Appendix figure 4. Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate (24.1.2012)

Quality descriptions

Quality Description: Labour force survey (24.1.2012)

Updated 24.1.2012

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. December 2011. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.5.2012].
Access method: http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/2011/12/tyti_2011_12_2012-01-24_tie_001_en.html.

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