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29 May 1997

Slight increase in the number of wage earners in April -
change in the compilation of statistics makes estimation of the employment trend difficult

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland there were 1 797 000 wage earners in April, about 10 000 more than a year ago. This year it is in fact worth estimating the employment trend primarily according to the changes in number of wage earners because the statistical principles of the European Union that were adopted at the beginning of this year make it difficult to compare in particular the number of entrepreneurs to those of the year before. The figures in the case of entrepreneurs will be fully comparable from the beginning of next year again, when statistics compiled according to the new practice will have been collected for a whole year.

The number of entrepreneurs and family members of entrepreneurs totalled 327 000 in April, which is about 50 000 less than the figure in April 1996, based on a test survey which was conducted last year. The difference is explained by the small sample size of the test survey and by various changes in the data collection, which it has not been possible to take entirely into account in the revision of the time series. The change in the number of entrepreneurs reduced the employment figure by about 40 000 persons. In April the employment figure stood at 2 125 000 persons.

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Changes in the labour force 4/1996-4/1997, 1 000 persons
April March April CHANGE, %
1996 1997 1997 4/96-4/97
Employed wage earners 1 789 1 791 1 797 0.4
processing industries 526 507 531 1.0
service sector 1 225 1 251 1 227 0.1
other industries 38 33 39 3.7
Employed entrepreneurs 328 297 306 -6.8
assisting family members 49 17 20 -58.5
Employed, total 2 167 2 107 2 125 -1.9
Unemployed, total 410 397 424 3.4
under 25 years of age 78 83 98 25.3
Unemployment rate, % 15.9 15.9 16.6 0.7 1
under 25 years of age, % 29.9 32.4 33.5 3.6 1
Not in the labour force
aged between 15-74 1 270 1 353 1 309 3.1
Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column. 1 percentage points

In the year the number of employed increased the most in construction and decreased the most in agriculture. The hours worked were up by 4.7 per cent.

There were 424 000 unemployed persons in April, i.e. about 14 000 more than a year ago. This increase is accounted for by youth unemployment alone, which rose by 20 000 altogether. The number of young people with work also rose, by about 10 000. The number of students, instead, was down by approximately 30 000.

Impact of the revision on comparability

The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has been revised as of the beginning of 1997 to better correspond to the concepts and definitions used by the European Union and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Owing to the revision of the Labour Force Survey comparisons made in 1997 on the year before will be less reliable than normally. An estimate was made on the impact that the revision had on the figures for April 1996 and the figures presented here were adjusted accordingly.

The revision was based on the results of the parallel survey conducted between March-December 1996. The sample in the survey was, however, fairly small and did not cover the whole year, so the revisions are crude. The comparability of the survey will reach the customary level in January 1998, when data for the revised survey will have been collected for a whole year.

Since the Labour Force Survey is a sample survey, random variation has to be taken into account when assessing the changes. The confidence interval of the April unemployment rate is ± 0.5 percentage points.

The data for the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland were collected by interviewing some 12 000 Finnish residents of working age. The data are from between April 14 and 20. The Labour Force Survey is a panel survey where over a period of 18 months each person is included five times in the sample.

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

410 000 unemployed job seekers

The Ministry of Labour also publishes statistics on unemployment. The data are on unemployed job seekers on the last working day of each month. Owing to differences in methods and definitions, the unemployment figures issued by Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour are not fully comparable. The trend in the changes is generally in the same direction, with the figures of the Ministry of Labour being higher by some tens of thousands. At the end of April 410 000 unemployed persons were registered in the job applicants register of the Ministry of Labour.

The unemployment figure of Statistics Finland was nevertheless higher than that of the Ministry of Labour in April. The rise in the figures of the Labour Force Survey to a level close to that of the Ministry of Labour in the spring was to be expected once the unemployment principles of the EU were implemented in the Labour Force Survey. The changes involved in particular the classification of both students and those in training into the category of unemployed.

The changes in labour force legislation at the beginning of this year have also brought the unemployment figures closer, when, for example, the options of those aged under 25 to register as unemployed job seekers were restricted. The number of young unemployed persons is in fact higher in the Statistics Finland data than it is in those of the labour force authorities.

Source: Labour Force Survey,April 1997. Statistics Finland
Inquiries: Mr. Tapio Oksanen, tel. +358 9 1734 3228, Mr. Hannu Siitonen, tel. +358 9 1734 3225, and Ms. Salme Kiiski, tel. +358 9 1734 3230