27 June 1996
Employment improved slightly in May
According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, there were 20 000 more employed in May than in May of the year before. The number of jobs increased in trade and commerce, construction and business services. In agriculture and manufacturing, instead, employment declined somewhat.The highest rise in the number of jobs was recorded for the province of Turku-Pori. The improvement in the employment situation was entirely directed at men.
Seasonally adjusted figures show a rise in employment by a few thousand and a fall in unemployment by the same number from April to May.
Unemployment stood at 416 000 in May, which is 25 000 less than the year before. Women's unemployment increased slightly.
The rate of unemployment or the proportion of those unemployed in the labour force was 16.6 per cent in May, down by nearly one percentage point on the year before. Unemployment declined most in construction, i.e. by 11 percentage points. In manufacturing and government services unemployment increased slightly in the year to May.
Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column figures. construction, i.e. by 11 percentage points.
The unemployment of men fell by 2.2 percentage points to 16.0 per cent. The unemployment of women, instead, increased by 0.4 percentage points to 17.1 per cent. There were 84 000 unemployed young persons in May, which is nearly 10 000 less than the year before.
Higher unemployment figures in the Ministry of Labour
The data of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are collected by interviewing monthly some 12 000 Finns of working age. The Labour Force Survey is a panel survey based on a sample, in which the same person is surveyed five times over a period of eighteen months. The data to be published now are for the period 13-19 May.
The Labour Force Survey provides data both on employment and unemployment. It is based on the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and it is comparable with the corresponding statistics of other countries.
The Ministry of Labour also publishes statistics on unemployment. The data on unemployed job applicants are from the last working day of the month. Owing to differences in methods and definitions, the unemployment figures of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour are not comparable. However, the figures generally change in a parallel manner so that the figures of the Ministry of Labour exceed those of Statistics Finland by a few tens of thousands. At the end of May there were 432 100 unemployed persons in the Ministry of Labour's register of job applicants.
When assessing the figures of the Labour Force Survey, the confidence interval, which is due to the standard error of the sample survey, also has to be taken into account. This interval was ± 0.7 percentage points in the unemployment rate in May.
Source: Labour Force Survey, May 1996
Further Information: Hannu Siitonen, tel. +358 0 1734 3225,
Salme Kiiski, tel. +358 0 1734 3230