Unemployment rate 9.2 per cent in January

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in January 2017 was 242,000, which was slightly lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 9.2 per cent, having been 9.3 per cent in January of the year before. There were 6,000 more employed than in January of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 5,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2007/01–2017/01, persons aged 15–74

In January 2017, the number of employed persons was 2,391,000 (margin of error ą33,000), which was 6,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 26,000 more employed men and 20,000 fewer employed women than in January 2016.

In January, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 67.0 per cent, having been 66.8 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men grew by 1.4 percentage points from last year’s January to 68.0 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 1.0 percentage points to 65.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.9 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 242,000 unemployed in January 2017 (margin of error ą19,000), which was slightly fewer than one year before. The number of unemployed men was 123,000 and that of women 119,000.

At 9.2 per cent, the unemployment rate in January was 0.1 percentage points lower than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 9.0 per cent and women’s 9.4 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent.

In January, there were a total of 633,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 207,000 were employed and 63,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 270,000. In January, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 23.5 per cent, which was 2.3 percentage points higher than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.3 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 10.0 per cent.

There were 1,475,000 persons in the inactive population in January 2017, which was 5,000 lower than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 162,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 15,000 lower than in January 2016.

Changes in employment 2016/01–2017/01 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2016/01	2017/01	2016/01 - 2017/01
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 110	4 109	0,0
Active population total	2 630	2 633	0,1
Employed	2 385	2 391	0,2
– employees	2 036	2 076	2,0
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	349	314	–10,0
Unemployed	245	242	–0,9
Inactive population	1 481	1 475	–0,4
– persons in disguised unemployment	177	162	–8,3
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	66,8	67,0	0,2
Unemployment rate	9,3	9,2	–0,1
Activity rate	64,0	64,1	0,1
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column. The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

At the end of January 2017, there were altogether 343,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as unemployed job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 25,000 lower than in January 2016.

Unemployment fell in January from the corresponding period in 2016 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Kainuu (–16%), South Ostrobothnia (–13%), North Savo (–9%) and Lapland (–9%). At the end of January, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 24,000, which was 7,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 122,000 at the end of January, which was 7,000 more than in January of the previous year. Altogether, 4.6 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 43,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 5,000 lower than in January of the year before. During this January, 58,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 6,000 more than in January 2016.

Changes 2016/01–2017/01 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

	Year/Month		Change
	2016/01	2017/01	2016/01 - 2017/01
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers	368	343	–6,9
– unemployed over a year	121	122	0,9
Services, total	115	122	6,1
– employed	18	22	19,9
– in labour market training, in training	22	23	3,5
– engaged in work/training trials	13	12	–7,9
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	61	65	5,8
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	52	58	12,2
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

Contact information for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment:
Petri Syvänen tel. +358 29 504 8050, http://www.temtyollisyyskatsaus.fi

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About seasonally adjusted trend

The accuracy of figures and the margins of error are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey .

Comparison between the employment statistics of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Job vacancy survey

Latest data on open job vacancies published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Source: Labour force survey 2017, January. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Joanna Viinikka 029 551 3796, Pertti Taskinen 029 551 2690, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (21.2.2017)

Updated 21.2.2017

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. January 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 4.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2017/01/tyti_2017_01_2017-02-21_tie_001_en.html