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Published: 6 July 2009

Number of employed persons record high in 2008

The improvement of employment continued during 2008 but slowed down towards the end of the year. In 2008, the average number of employed persons was 2,531,000, which was 39,000 persons, or two per cent, higher than one year earlier. The number of employed persons was the highest in the history of Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey. The rise in the number of employed persons in the 2000s has been attributed especially to the staying at work of the 55 to 64-year-olds.

The number of unemployed persons fell in 2008, as it had done in the preceding years. In 2008, the average number of unemployed persons was 172,000, which was 11,000 persons, or six per cent, lower than one year earlier. The official unemployment rate for 2008, i.e. the proportion of unemployed people of the labour force, fell from 6.9 to 6.4 per cent.

Figure 1. Number of employed and unemployed persons 1999-2008

In the 2000s the number of employed persons aged 55 or over has grown rapidly as large age groups are ageing. The number of employed persons aged 55 to 74 years increased by 238,000 persons between 1999 and 2008. The employment rate of persons aged 55 or over has also risen significantly; the employment rate of 55 to 64-year-olds was 17 percentage points higher than in 1999. The change has been clearly less noticeable in other age groups.

Figure 2. Employment rate of 15 to 64-year-olds by age group 1999 and 2008

The annual Labour Force Statistics 2008 publication is published in August 2009.

Source: Labour Force Statistics 2008 - Results of the Labour Force Survey from the years 1999-2008. Statistics Finland.

Inquiries: Ms Heidi Melasniemi-Uutela +358-9-1734 2030, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Ms Riitta Harala

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Senast uppdaterad 6.7.2009

Instruktion för hänvisning:

Finlands officiella statistik (FOS): Labour force survey [e-publikation].
ISSN=1798-7857. 2008. Helsingfors: Statistics Finland [hänvisat: 5.11.2024].
Åtkomstsätt: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2008/tyti_2008_2009-07-06_tie_001_en.html