The number of unemployed in Finland decreased to 249,000 in May

The latest figures published by Statistics Finland confirm that unemployment in Finland continues to fall. In May 2019, the number of employed persons in Finland was 2,587,000, which was 32,000 higher than a year earlier, according to the Labour Force Survey.

The employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed people among the total of persons aged 15 to 64 in the country, stood at 73.1%, slightly higher than the 72.3% recorded one year earlier.

Regarding the unemployed, the total number at the end of May was 249,000, this is 12,000 fewer than one year earlier. Unemployment affected more men (133,000) than women (116,000). The country's unemployment rate at the end of the period was 8.8%, this is 0.5 percentage points lower than one year earlier.

In general, women were more active at the time of starting to work. The unemployment rate of men decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 9%, and that of women by 0.9 percentage points, to 8.5%.

Image source: Statistics Finland.

Unemployment grew among young people

In May, there were a total of 614,000 young people aged 15 to 24. Of them, 280,000 were employed and 117,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population (employed and unemployed), was 397,000.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 29.4%, which was 1 percentage point higher than one year previously. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 19%.

There were 1,289,000 in the inactive population in May 2019, which was 16,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 95,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 27,000 fewer than in May 2018.

Employment service statistics

At the end of May 2019, there were altogether 227,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as job seekers at the employment and economic development offices of the Ministry of economic Affairs and Employment. The number of unemployed job seekers was 15,000 lower than in May 2018.

Unemployment fell in May from the corresponding period in 2018 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in South Savo (-11%), Kainuu (-11%), Ostrobothnia (-9%), Southwest Finland (-9%) and Southeast Finland (-9%). At the end of May, the number of persons fully laid off registered at the employment and economic development offices was 8,000, which was nearly the same number as twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totaled 124,000 at the end of May, which was 7,000 fewer than in May of the year before. Altogether, 4.4% of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 29,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 1,000 lower than in last year's May. During this May, 66,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 3,000 more than in May 2018.