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Published: 25 January 2011

Unemployment rate 7.9 per cent in December

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, employment and unemployment were in December 2010 near the level where they were one year earlier. There were 13,000 fewer employed than in December of the previous year. The unemployment rate was the same, 7.9 per cent. There were 18,000 more employed in the fourth quarter of 2010 (October to December) than one year previously. In 2010, the unemployment rate was 8.4 per cent, having been 8.2 per cent in 2009.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 1989/01 – 2010/12

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 1989/01 – 2010/12

In December 2010, the number of employed persons was 2,397,000, which was 13,000 lower than a year earlier. This change fits within the margin of error for the number of employed persons (± 31,000). The number of employed men was 21,000 higher, while that of employed women was 34,000 lower than in December 2009. The number of employed persons increased in the areas of the Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) of Eastern and Southwestern Finland and decreased in those of Southern and Northern Finland.

In December, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 66.6 per cent, which was 0.3 percentage points lower than one year before. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 67.8 per cent. Men’s employment rate rose from last year’s December by 1.1 percentage points to 68.0 per cent whereas women’s employment rate fell by 1.8 percentage points to 65.2 per cent.

According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 204,000 unemployed in December 2010, which is almost equal to the previous year's December.

At 7.9 per cent, the unemployment rate in December was the same as one year before. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent in December. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent and women’s 7.5 per cent. In December 2010, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 19.1 per cent, which was 1.2 percentage points lower than in the previous year’s December. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.8 per cent. The unemployment rate was highest in the area of Northern Finland AVI, 10.0 per cent.

The number of 15 to 74-year-old women not in the labour force grew by 38,000 from the previous year's December.

Changes in the labour force 2010/12 – 2009/12 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey

  Year/Month Change
2010/12 2009/12 2010/12 - 2009/12
1000 persons Per cent (%)
Population aged 15–74 4 051 4 034 0,4
Labour force, total 2 602 2 616 –0,6
Employed, total 2 397 2 410 –0,5
– employees 2 073 2 079 –0,3
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 325 332 –2,2
Unemployed persons 204 206 –0,8
Total persons not in labour force 1 449 1 418 2,2
  Per cent (%) Percentage points
Employment rate (persons aged 15 to 64), % 66,6 67,0 –0,3
Unemployment rate, % 7,9 7,9 0,0
Labour force participation rate, % 64,2 64,9 –0,6
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.
The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Labour Force Survey data for the fourth quarter of 2010

The average number of employed persons in the last quarter of 2010 was 2,426,000, or 18,000 more than in the corresponding quarter of 2009. The number of employed persons increased in the industries of construction of buildings, education and social work activities without accommodation. The number of employed persons decreased in manufacturing and agriculture.

The average number of unemployed persons in the fourth quarter of 2010 was 195,000, which was 20,000 fewer than in the October to December period of 2009. The unemployment rate in the last quarter of the year was 7.4 per cent, which was 0.8 percentage points lower than in the respective period of 2009.

In the last quarter of 2010 the number of hours worked by employed persons was around 1.7 per cent higher than one year ago.

Changes in the labour force 2010/IV – 2009/IV according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey

  Year/Quarter Change
2010/IV 2009/IV 2010/IV- 2009/IV
1000 persons Per cent (%)
Labour force, total 2 621 2 623 –0,1
Employed, total 2 426 2 408 0,7
Unemployed, total 195 215 –9,4
– men 109 119 –8,9
– women 86 96 –10,0
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.
The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Labour Force Survey annual averages for 2010

In 2010, the average number of employed persons was 2,447,000, which was 10,000 lower than in 2009. The number of employed men was almost unchanged and that of employed women declined by 14,000 persons. In 2010, the employment rate was 67.8 per cent, having been 68.3 per cent in 2009.

The unemployment rate for 2010 was 8.4 per cent. In 2009 the unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent and in 2008 it was 6.4 per cent. In 2010, the average number of unemployed persons was 224,000, which was 3,000 higher than in 2009.

In 2010, the number of hours worked by employed persons was approximately one per cent higher than in 2009. The amount of labour input per employed person grew slightly.

A general review on annual data concerning 2010 will be released on 15 February 2011.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

At the end of December 2010, there were altogether 269,000 persons registered, in accordance with the Unemployment Security Act and the Employment Office Regulations, as job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 31,000 lower than in December 2009.

Unemployment decreased from the previous year in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres (ELY). The number of unemployed job seekers declined most in South Ostrobothnia (-21%), Ostrobothnia (-19%), Pirkanmaa (-13%) and North Karelia (-13%). At the end of December, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 23,000, which was 18,000 lower than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons covered by labour market policy measures totalled 84,000 at the end of December, which was 9,000 more than in December of the year before. Altogether 3.2 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy measures.

There were 32,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 5,000 lower than in last year's December. During this December, 33,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 7,000 more than in December 2009.

Changes 2010/12 – 2009/12 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

  Year/Month Change
2010/12 2009/12 2010/12 - 2009/12
1000 persons Per cent (%)
Unemployed job seekers 269 301 –10,4
– unemployed over a year 58 47 23,0
Total measures 84 75 11,5
– employed with subsidised measures 35 31 14,1
– in labour market training 32 29 10,3
– in trainee and job alternation places 16 15 8,2
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 33 26 25,4
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Mr Petri Syvänen, tel. +359 10 604 8050, http://www.tem.fi/employmentbulletin

Links

Time series data of the Labour Force Survey 2000−2009 http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/2009/17/tyti_2009_17_2010-12-03_tie_001_en.html

Updated tables of the Labour Force Survey: http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tau_en.html

Differences between the Labour Force Survey and the Employment Service Statistics are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey.

Methodological description concerning laid off persons (in Finnish only): http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2009-04-28_men_006.html

About seasonally adjusted trend: http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tramo_seats_en.html

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU  can be found on Eurostat's home page http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

Job vacancy survey: http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/atp/index_en.html


Source: Labour force survey 2010, December. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Heidi Melasniemi-Uutela (09) 1734 2523, Kalle Sinivuori (09) 1734 3524, Veli Rajaniemi (09) 1734 3434, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Updated 25.1.2011

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. December 2010. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2010/12/tyti_2010_12_2011-01-25_tie_001_en.html