A total of 238,300 unemployed job seekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices at the end of March. This was 25,800 fewer than a year earlier. The number of unemployed job seekers was down by 7,500 compared to the previous month. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment explained in a press release that the number of long-term unemployed —that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year— amounted to 63,700, down 19,100 on the previous year. The number of unemployed job seekers aged over 50 was 90,600, or 11,600 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.
Unemployed job seekers under 25 years of age numbered 29,500, representing a decrease of 2,700 from March last year. Among unemployed young people, the period of unemployment ended within three months on average in 64.4% of cases between January and March, which is 4.6 percentage points less than the year before.
Increase in new vacancies
The number of new vacancies reported to Employment and Economic Development Offices during March totaled 73,300, or 9,600 more than in March the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies at Employment and Economic Development Offices in March amounted to 168,500, which was 27,100 more than a year ago.
At the end of March, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 129,900, down 2,100 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labor market training, work trials and self-motivated studies.
At the end of March, the number of people laid off was 20,800 in the whole country, which was 2,400 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totaled 14,900, representing a decrease of 400 from March the year before.
Statistics Finland: unemployment rate 7%
According to the Labor Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in March the number of people in employment was up 61,000 on the previous year. The employment rate was 71.8%, which was 1.8 percentage points higher than in March the year before.
According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 191,000, which is 49,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7%, or 1.8 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 Labor 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.
