A total of 268,900 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of July. This was 15,100 fewer than a year earlier. However, the number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 14,800 from the previous month. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The number of long-term unemployed —that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year— amounted to 65,100, down 11,900 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 93,500, or 5,500 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.
Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 36,700, representing a decrease of 2,500 from July last year. On average, 66.1% of the unemployment periods of youths ended before reaching three months between January and July. This is 1.9 percentage points less than a year before.
New vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during July totaled 52,700, or 4,500 more than in July the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in July amounted to 100,000, which was 8,400 more than a year ago.
At the end of July, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 101,200, down 4,700 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
The number of people laid off was 16,100 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 11,100, showing no change from July a year earlier.
Unemployment rate 6%
According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in July the number of people in employment was 3 000 fewer than on the previous year. The employment rate was 74.5%, which was 0.4 percentage points higher than in July the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 169,000, which is 14,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 6%, 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. 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.
