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Published: 20 December 2016

Unemployment rate 8.1 per cent in November

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in November 2016 was 213,000, which was nearly the same as one year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent, having been 8.2 per cent in November of the year before. There were 11,000 more employed than in November of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 8,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/11–2016/11, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2006/11–2016/11, persons aged 15–74

In November 2016, the number of employed persons was 2,413,000 (margin of error ±34,000), which was 11,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 7,000 more employed men and 4,000 more employed women than in November 2015.

In November, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 67.7 per cent, having been 66.9 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 0.5 percentage points from last year’s November to 68.3 per cent. Women's employment rate rose by 1.0 percentage points to 67.1 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.8 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 213,000 unemployed in November 2016, which was almost the same as one year earlier (margin of error ±18,000). The number of unemployed men was 120,000 and that of women 94,000.

At 8.1 per cent, the unemployment rate in November was 0.1 percentage points lower than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.8 per cent and women’s 7.4 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent.

In November, there were a total of 634,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 236,000 were employed and 45,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 281,000. In November, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 16.1 per cent, which was 1.4 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.0 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 7.1 per cent.

There were 1,483,000 persons in the inactive population in November 2016, which was 8,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 166,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 15,000 more than in November 2015.

Changes in employment 2015/11–2016/11 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2015/11 2016/11 2015/11 - 2016/11
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 108 4 109 0,0
Active population total 2 617 2 626 0,4
Employed 2 402 2 413 0,5
– employees 2 074 2 083 0,4
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 327 330 0,9
Unemployed 216 213 –1,0
Inactive population 1 490 1 483 –0,5
– persons in disguised unemployment 151 166 9,7
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 66,9 67,7 0,8
Unemployment rate 8,2 8,1 –0,1
Activity rate 63,7 63,9 0,2
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 November 2016, there were altogether 329,000 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 14,000 lower than in November of the previous year.

Unemployment fell in November from the corresponding period in 2015 in the areas of twelve Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–16%), South Ostrobothnia (–10%), Lapland (–10%), Etelä-Savo (–8%), Häme (–8%) and Pohjois-Savo (–8%). Unemployment increased only in the areas of the Economic Development Centres of Satakunta (3%), Ostrobothnia (2%) and North Karelia (1%). At the end of November, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 21,000, which was 4,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 129,000 at the end of November, which was 7,000 more than in November of the previous year. Altogether, 4.9 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 40,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 3,000 lower than in last year’s November. During this November, 39,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 5,000 more than in last year's November.

Changes 2015/11–2016/11 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

  Year/Month Change
2015/11 2016/11 2015/11 - 2016/11
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 342 329 –4,0
– unemployed over a year 114 121 6,2
Services, total 122 129 5,9
– employed 20 23 15,8
– in labour market training, in training 26 27 1,1
– engaged in work/training trials 15 13 –9,6
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 61 66 8,5
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 33 39 16,5
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 2016, November. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 20.12.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. November 2016. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 19.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2016/11/tyti_2016_11_2016-12-20_tie_001_en.html