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Published: 20 September 2016

Unemployment rate 7.2 per cent in August

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in August 2016 was 195,000, which was 28,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent, having been 8.3 per cent in August of the year before. There were 27,000 more employed persons than in August of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 8,000 higher than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/08–2016/08, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/08–2016/08, persons aged 15–74

In August 2016, the number of employed persons was 2,495,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was 27,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 29,000 more employed men and 3,000 fewer employed women than in August 2015.

In August 2016, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.9 per cent, having been 68.8 per cent one year earlier. From last year’s August, men’s employment rate rose by 1.9 percentage points to 71.3 per cent and women’s by 0.3 percentage points to 68.5 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.7 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 195,000 unemployed in August 2016 (margin of error ±18,000), i.e. 28,000 fewer than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 101,000 and that of women 94,000.

At 7.2 per cent, the unemployment rate was 1.0 percentage points lower in August than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent and women’s 7.3 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent.

In August, there were a total of 635,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 286,000 were employed and 38,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 324,000. In August, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 11.8 per cent, which was 1.7 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.2 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 6.0 per cent.

There were 1,417,000 persons in the inactive population in August 2016, which was 8,000 more than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 154,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 7,000 more than in the corresponding period of 2015.

Changes in employment 2015/08–2016/08 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2015/08 2016/08 2015/08 - 2016/08
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 101 4 107 0,2
Active population total 2 691 2 690 0,0
Employed 2 469 2 495 1,1
– employees 2 129 2 137 0,3
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 340 359 5,7
Unemployed 222 195 –12,4
Inactive population 1 409 1 417 0,6
– persons in disguised unemployment 147 154 4,5
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 68,8 69,9 1,1
Unemployment rate 8,3 7,2 –1,0
Activity rate 65,6 65,5 –0,1
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 August 2016, there were altogether 343,000 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 4,000 lower than in August 2015.

Unemployment fell in August from the corresponding period in 2015 in the areas of eleven Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–11%), North Savo (–7%), and Lapland (–6%). In the areas of all other Employment and Economic Development Centres, unemployment increased: most in Ostrobothnia (8%), Pirkanmaa (3%) and Uusimaa (2%). At the end of August, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 17,000, which was 2,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 113,000 at the end of August, which was 3,000 more than in August of the year before. Altogether, 4.2 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 46,000 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 August. During this August, 51,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 14,000 more than in August 2015.

Changes 2015/08–2016/08 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

  Year/Month Change
2015/08 2016/08 2015/08 - 2016/08
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 347 343 –1,2
– unemployed over a year 113 128 13,4
Services, total 110 113 2,9
– employed 25 24 –5,1
– in labour market training, in training 22 21 –5,9
– engaged in work/training trials 10 9 –7,9
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 53 59 12,3
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 37 51 37,2
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 2016, August. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Joanna Viinikka 029 551 3796, Kirsi Toivonen 029 551 3535, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Appendix tables

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Updated 20.09.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. August 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2016/08/tyti_2016_08_2016-09-20_tie_001_en.html