254,200 jobseekers registered in employment offices

A total of 254,200 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of June. This was 18,600 fewer than a year earlier. The number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 27,600 from the previous month.

The figures included in the release are from the Employment Bulletin of the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment explained in a press release that "typical of the summer period", this monthly increase in the number of unemployed jobseekers "was brought about by the entry into the labour market of the young graduates from various education institutions and termination of certain fixed-term employment contracts for the summer months".

The number of long-term unemployed —that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year— amounted to 63,800, down 13,300 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 89,500, or 7,200 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 35,200, representing a decrease of 2,900 from June last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 66% of cases between January and June, which is 2.3 percentage points less than the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during June totaled 52,600, or 2,500 more than in June the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in June amounted to 110,000, which was 7,200 more than a year ago.

At the end of June, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 110,100, down 3,900 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.

Also at the end of the first half of the year, the number of people laid off was 14,800 in the whole country, which was 1,200 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totaled 9,500, representing an increase of 100 from June the year before.

Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 6.2%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in June the number of people in employment was same amount than on the previous year. The employment rate was 75.7%, which was 0.2 percentage points higher than in June the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 176,000, which is 16,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 6.2%, or 0.5 percentage points lower than the previous year.

This information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland.

Key statistical differences

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.

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 categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics.

The Labour 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 Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.