November 2020 ended with less employed and more unemployed than a year ago. In the background of this development is the serious economic crisis derived from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Statistics Finland's Labor Force Survey, there were 187,000 unemployed in November 2020, which is 27,000 more than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 100,000 and that of women 86,000.
The unemployment rate was 6.9% in November, having been 5.9% in the year before.
One more month, unemployment rose more among women than among men, although there are still more men unemployed.
The unemployment rate for men went up by 0.4 percentage points from the previous year’s November to 7%. The unemployment rate for women rose by 1.6 percentage points to 6.7%.
In monthly terms, unemployment was lower than in October, when it reached 7.2%.
Source: Statistics Finland.
Fewer people employed
In November 2020, the number of employed persons was 2,540,000, which was 4,000 lower than a year earlier. There were 9,000 more employed men and 13,000 fewer employed women than in November 2019.
The employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 71.%, having been 71.7% one year earlier. From the previous year’s November, the employment rate of men aged 15 to 64 rose by 0.7 percentage points to 73.3% and that of women fell by 0.6 percentage points to 70.2 %.
Thus, the employment rate is now further away than a year ago from the 75% target set by Prime Minister Sanna Marin's cabinet at the beginning of her mandate in the government program.
Youth unemployment
The unemployment figures also reflect that the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is especially complicating the situation for young people who want to work.
In November, there were 45,000 people aged 15 to 24 who were unemployed. The unemployment rate for young people stood at 16.5%, which was 4.7 percentage points higher than one year previously.
There were 1,403,000 persons in the inactive population in November 2020, which was 24,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 117,000 persons were in disguised unemployment, which was 7,000 fewer than in November 2019.
