Finland finished 2019 with a growing number of unemployed job seekers registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices: a total of 257,700, this is 1,200 more than a year earlier.
The latest figures included in the employment bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment also show that December was -at least in statistical terms- a disastrous month for employment: the number of unemployed job seekers increased by 29,100 from the previous month.
Layoffs
One of the explanations for this increase must be sought, for example, in the number of people dismissed. At the end of December, the number of people laid off was 27,700 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 6,300.
The number of people fully laid off totaled 21,700, representing an increase of 6,300 (or 41%) from December the year before.
According to the Finnish Government, the number of long-term unemployed (those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year) amounted to 63,000, down 3,800 on the previous year.
Among those aged over 50, the number of unemployed was 95,100, representing an increase of 100 on the year before.
The number of unemployed job seekers aged under 25 was 32,800, representing a decrease of 600 from December last year. On average, 68.1% of the unemployment periods of young people ended before reaching three months.
Increase in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during December totaled 55,400, or 9,500 more than one year before. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in December amounted to 104,100, which was 14,500 more than a year ago.
At the end of December, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 110,900, down 5,600 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
Statistics Finland: unemployment rate 6%
According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in December the number of people in employment was 17,000 more than on the previous year and the employment rate was 73%.
However, the survey also shows that the unemployment total was 164,000, which is 18,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 6%, or 0.6 percentage points higher than the previous year.
This information is based on two sources: the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of 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, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.
