At the end of April, there were 229,600 unemployed jobseekers registered at the Finnish Employment and Economic Development Offices. This was 25,000 persons fewer than a year earlier, according to the latest figures published by the Bulletin of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.
The official numbers also show that the number of unemployed jobseekers was down by 8,700 from the previous month.
The number of long-term unemployed —that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year— amounted to 63,100, down 17,500 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 87,600, or 11,300 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.
Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 28,400, representing a decrease of 2,900 from April last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 65.5% of cases between January and April, which is 3.0 percentage points less than the year before.
Increase in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during April totaled 68,800, or 8,700 more than in April the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in April amounted to 144,700, which was 23,200 more than a year ago.
At the end of April, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 129,800, down 2,200 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labor market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
At the end of April, the number of people laid off was 17,400 in the whole country, which was 2,200 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totaled 11,600, representing a decrease of 400 from April the year before.
Unemployment rate 8.0%
According to the Labor Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in April the number of people in employment was up 28,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 71.2%, which was 1.2 percentage points higher than in April the year before.
According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 220,000, which is 14,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.0%, or 0.5 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Employment Service Statistics Vs Labor Force Survey
This information is made after two different statistical surveys: the Employment Service Statistics produced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and the Labor Force Survey made by the Finnish Statistical Office (Statistics Finland).
The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register. On the other hand the Labor Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling. This can lead to different results, depending on which one is used to observe the labor market's development.
In the Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorized as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics.
The Labor Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition for being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks.
The figures of the Labor Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.
