Finland had 301,200 unemployed job seekers at the end of May

Finland had 301,200 unemployed job seekers registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) and municipalities at the end of May, according to the latest Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

This is 131,500 less than a year earlier, but 74,600 more than in May two years ago. The number of unemployed job seekers was down by 17,200 from the previous month.

Of the unemployed job seekers, 154,500 were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

The number of long-term unemployed — those who had been in unemployment without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 110,900, up 41,100 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed job seekers over 50 years of age was 110,500, or 31,200 less than at the same time a year earlier.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported during May totaled 80,800, or 35,700 more than in May the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in May amounted to 154,800, which is 57,900 more than a year ago.

At the end of May, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 113,400, up 7,800 on the previous year.

These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Labour Force Survey

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in May the number of people in employment was 138,000 more than on the previous year. The employment rate was 73%, which was 4 percentage points higher than in May the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 275,000, which is 25,000 less than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 9.6%, or 1.3 percentage points lower than the previous year.

The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.