Growth in employment came to a halt in March

The number of employed increased only slightly in March as compared to March of the year before, the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland indicates. The number of jobs decreased in primary production, whereas in the service sector, in business services in particular, jobs increased.

Men's employment improved by a good 10 000 whereas that of women fell slightly from March 1995. Men accounted for 53 per cent of the unemployed and women for 47 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted figures show a rise in employment by three thousand and a fall in unemployment by about two thousand from February to March. Unemployment stood at 419 000 in March, i.e. at roughly the same level as the year before.

The unemployment rate was 17.1 per cent in March, which is about the same as a year earlier. In the year to March, the unemployment rate of men fell by 1.1 percentage points to 17.4 per cent, whereas that of women rose by 1.3 percentage points to 16.7 per cent. There were 76 000 unemployed young persons in March.

Changes in the labour force from March 1995 to March 1996

Higher unemployment figures in the Ministry of Labour

The data for the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are collected by interviewing monthly about 12 000 Finns of working age. The Labour Force Survey is a panel survey where each person is included five times in the sample in a period of one an a half years. The data released here are from between March 11 and 17.

The Labour Force Survey produces data both on employment and unemployment. It is based on the international recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the survey is comparable to statistics produced by other countries.

The Ministry of Labour also publishes statistics on unemployment. The data are on unemployed job seekers on the last working day of each month. Due to differences in methods and definitions, the unemployment figures published by Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour are not comparable. The trend in the changes is generally such that it is in the same direction, with the figures of the Ministry of Labour being some thousands higher. At the end of March 451 600 unemployed persons were registered in the job applicants register of the Ministry of Labour.

The data for the Labour Force Survey showed a higher figure for youth unemployment in March than did the statistics produced by the Ministry of Labour. The difference between the two unemployment figures is due partly to the fact that the statistics of the Labour Force Survey include unemployed young persons in training who are not yet visible in the unemployment statistics supplied by the Ministry of Labour.

Source: Labour Force Survey, March 1996
Further information: Mr. Tapio Oksanen, tel. +358 0 1734 3228 or
Mr. Hannu Siitonen, tel. +358 0 1734 3225