235,400 unemployed jobseekers in May

The number of unemployed jobseekers decreased by 65,800. The number of new vacancies reported in May totalled 111,700. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies amounted to 221,600, which is 66,800 more than a year ago.

At the end of May, a total of 235,400 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 65,800 fewer than a year earlier and 3,400 fewer than in the previous month. 

Of the unemployed jobseekers, 131,000, or 23,500 fewer than in May a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

At the end of May, the number of people laid off was 18,100 in the whole country, which was 37,900 fewer than at the same time the year before. The number of people fully laid off totalled 12,000, representing a decrease of 29,200 from May the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 4,600 from April.

95,300 unemployed in the long term

The number of long-term unemployed — i.e. those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 95,300, down 15,600 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 91,400, or 19,100 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 24,900, representing a decrease of 11,200 from May last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 61.4 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and May. This is 5.0 percentage points more than the year before.

Increase in new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported during May totalled 111,700, or 30,800 more than in May the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in May amounted to 221,600, which is 66,800 more than a year ago.

At the end of May, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 112,600, down 800 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

Statistics Finland: The trend of the unemployment rate 6.1%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in May the number of people in employment was 61,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 73.9%, which was 2.0 percentage points higher than in May the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 227,000, which is 68,000 less than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 6.1%, or 1.8 percentage points lower than the previous year.

Key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey 

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. 

In the employment service statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment persons that are not in employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics. 

Further information on the differences in the statistics.

Inquiries:
Petri Syvänen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 8050