Number of unemployed jobseekers and layoffs increased in January
The number of unemployed registered in Finnish employment offices increased slightly in January compared to one year before.
According to government data, a total of 251,700 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) at the end of January, showing a year-on-year increase of 200.
However, the monthly evolution was positive: the number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 6,000 from the previous month (December 2019). The figures are from the Employment Service Statistics 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 63,400, down 2,500 on the previous year. Among those aged over 50, the number of unemployed was 94,400, representing an increase of 300 on the year before.
Unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 numbered 30,800, representing a decrease of 1,200 from January last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 64.5% of cases in January, which is 1.4 percentage points more than the year before.
New vacancies increased
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during January totaled 92,900, or 5,900 more than in January the previous year.
The total number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in January amounted to 146,400, which was 12,100 more than a year ago.
At the end of January, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 115,900, down 6,100 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 24,400 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 3,300. The number of people fully laid off totalled 18,400, representing an increase of 3,300 from January the year before.
Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.2%
According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in January the number of people in employment was 46,000 more than on the previous year. The employment rate was 72.1%, which was 1.5 percentage points higher than in January the year before.
According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 196,000, which is 15,000 more than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.2%, or 0.4 percentage points higher 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.
The Ministry and Statistics Finland use different definitions for being unemployed, so their figures sometimes may differ.