Improved employment in services in July

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland there were 1 963 000 wage earners in July, which is a good 40 000 more than the year before. Employment improved the most in the service and construction sectors.

There were 333 000 unemployed persons in July, clearly less than a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 12.7 per cent, being 2.8 percentage points lower than the figure in July 1996. The unemployment rate of men was 12.4 per cent and that of women 12.9 per cent. The rate of unemployment in construction fell by nearly 7 percentage points to 13.8 per cent. Owing to the revision of the Labour Force Survey the comparability of the figures on the year before has not yet reached the customary level of reliability. According to statistics there were over 400 000 unemployed persons in July of 1996.

The rapid fall in unemployment is partly attributable to the decline in the supply of labour in midsummer. The exceptionally warm July obviously made some of the persons out of work quit their active search for work. In addition, the supply of labour was decreased by those who ended their summer jobs in July and did not look for new employment.

The high youth unemployment of the spring fell in July, due partly to seasonal variation. Those young persons who were unemployed in the spring have either gained a job or are oriented to return to school. The number of unemployed young people fell by nearly 60 000 from June, while the number for those registered as students was up by almost the same figure.

Changes in the labour force 7/1996-7/1997, 1 000 persons

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	July	June	July	Change, %
	1996	1997	1997	7/96-7/97
Employed wage earners	1 921	1 983	1 963	2.2
processing industries	593	594	597	0.7
service sector	1 276	1 342	1 313	2.9
other industries	52	47	53	2.5
Employed entrepreneurs + assisting family members	341	333	334	-1.9
		2319	2301	1,7
Employed, total	2 262	2 319	2 301	1.7
Unemployed, total	415	408	333	-19.7
under 25 years of age	78	129	71	-9.3
Unemployment rate, %	15.5	15.0	12.7	-2.8¹
under 25 years of age, %	20.7	28.6	18.4	-2.3¹
Not in the labour force aged
between 15-74	1 173	1 135	1 229	4.8

Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column. ¹ percentage points

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). Seasonal variations and a slowdown for midsummer in the labour market are now more clearly visible in the revised Labour Force Survey. Although most of the effects of the revision were anticipated and the figures for July 1996 accordingly adjusted, comparisons made in 1997 on the year before will to some extent remain less reliable than normally.

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.

This year it is advisable to assess the trend of employment primarily on the basis of changes in the number of wage earners. This is due to the fact that the introduction of the statistical principles of the European Union at the beginning of the year makes it difficult to compare in particular the number of entrepreneurs with those of the year before.

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 July 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. Some 90 per cent of those selected for the sample are generally contacted for an interview. However, in the Labour Force Survey of July only 88 per cent of the sample were contacted by the interviewers, which is about 3 percentage points less than in July of the year before. The higher than usual proprotion of those who were not contacted may reduce in particular the number of employed persons compared to the situation a year ago.

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 July unemployment rate is ± 0.5 percentage points.

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.

427 900 unemployed job seekers in the register

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. At the end of July 427 900 unemployed persons were registered in the job applicants register of the Ministry of Labour.

In July the difference between the unemployment figures issued by Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour was greater than normally. This is partly due to the fact that persons who plan to continue their studies in the autumn may still be registered at the labour exchange office as unemployed, although they report their study intentions in the labour force survey and are thus not registered as unemployed. Another reason is that some of the registered jobseekers are not actively searching for work and therefore cannot, according to the international recommendation, be recorded in the statistics as unemployed. On the other hand, some of the registered unemployed may also get a short-term job or work for longer periods and the data about these does not always reach the registers of the labour exchange offices in time. The difference is also explained by the changed classification of those laid off.

Source: Labour Force Survey, July 1997. Statistics Finland
For further information on this release, please contact Mr. Tapio Oksanen, tel. +358 9 1734 3228, Mr. Hannu Siitonen, tel. +358 9 1734 3225, Ms Salme Kiiski, tel. +358 9 1734 3230 or Mr. Timo Koskimäki, tel. +358 9 1734 3517.