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Published: 21 November 2017

Unemployment rate 7.3 per cent in October

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in October 2017 was 197,000, which was 20,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent, having been 8.1 per cent in October of the year before. There were 46,000 more employed than in October of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 18,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2007/10–2017/10, persons aged 15–74

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2007/10–2017/10, persons aged 15–74

In October 2017, the number of employed persons was 2,492,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was 46,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 16,000 more employed men and 30,000 more employed women than in October 2016.

In October 2017, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 70.0 per cent, having been 68.4 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 1.1 percentage points from last year’s October to 71.2 per cent. Women's employment rate rose by 2.2 percentage points to 68.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 69.7 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 197,000 unemployed (margin of error ±17,000) in October 2017, i.e. 20,000 fewer than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 104,000 and that of women 93,000.

At 7.3 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points lower in October than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.4 per cent and women’s 7.2 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent.

In October, there were a total of 625,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 237,000 were employed and 33,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 270,000. In October, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 12.3 per cent, which was 4.8 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 19.1 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 5.3 per cent.

There were 1,429,000 persons in the inactive population in October 2017, which was 18,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 137,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 31,000 fewer than in October 2016.

Changes in employment 2016/10–2017/10 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

  Year/Month Change
2016/10 2017/10 2016/10 - 2017/10
1000 persons Per cent, %
Population total 4 109 4 118 0,2
Active population total 2 663 2 689 1,0
Employed 2 446 2 492 1,9
– employees 2 103 2 180 3,6
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers 343 312 –8,8
Unemployed 217 197 –9,2
Inactive population 1 446 1 429 –1,2
– persons in disguised unemployment 168 137 –18,7
  Per cent, % Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64 68,4 70,0 1,6
Unemployment rate 8,1 7,3 –0,8
Activity rate 64,8 65,3 0,5
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.
The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

At the end of October 2017, there were a total of 273,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as unemployed job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 56,000 lower than in October of the year before.

Unemployment fell in October from the corresponding period in 2016 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Satakunta (–28%), Pirkanmaa (–25%) and Central Finland (–21%). At the end of October, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 10,000, which was 10,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 126,000 at the end of October, which was 3,000 fewer than in October of the previous year. Altogether, 4.7 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 32,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 9,000 lower than in last year's October. During this October, 48,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 8,000 more than in October 2016.

Changes 2016/10–2017/10 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

  Year/Month Change
2016/10 2017/10 2016/10 - 2017/10
1000 persons Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers 329 273 –17,2
– unemployed over a year 123 95 –22,9
Services, total 129 126 –2,5
– employed 23 24 3,6
– in labour market training, in training 27 22 –18,2
– engaged in work/training trials 12 12 –6,5
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit 66 68 2,5
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices 40 48 19,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:
Petri Syvänen tel. +358 29 504 8050, http://www.temtyollisyyskatsaus.fi

Links

Labour Force Survey tables in databases

About seasonally adjusted trend

The accuracy of figures and the margins of error are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey .

Comparison between the employment statistics of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

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

Job vacancy survey

Latest data on open job vacancies published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat


Source: Labour force survey 2017, October. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Joanna Viinikka 029 551 3796, Henri Lukkarinen 029 551 3704, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 21.11.2017

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. October 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 19.4.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2017/10/tyti_2017_10_2017-11-21_tie_001_en.html