Employment and unemployment in December 2001

- 28,000 more employed than a year ago
- Employment rate 67.0 per cent
- Rate of unemployment 8.1 per cent, 208,000 unemployed
- 12,000 new vacancies at labour exchange offices

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, there were 28,000 more employed in December 2001 than a year earlier. The number of wage-earners grew by 30,000 from December 2000. The number of wage-earners engaged in continuous full-time work went up by 26,000. The number of part-time jobs was approximately the same as one year ago. During last year's December, 12,000 new vacancies were reported to the labour exchange offices, which is 3,000 fewer than in December 2000.

In December 2001, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 67.0 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the employment rate was 68.0 per cent, which is slightly higher than in November when it stood at 67.8 per cent. Compared to December 2000, employment grew in communications, business activities, trade, and community and personal service activities. Employment declined in construction, manufacturing and agriculture. In relative terms, jobs increased most in the Provinces of Lapland and Southern Finland.

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Changes in the labour force 12/2000 - 12/2001, thousand
		December 2001	December 2000	CHANGE, % 12/00 - 12/01
Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey:
Employed, total		2,347	2,319	1.2
- wage-earners		2,041	2,011	1.5
Employment rate, %		67.0	66.4	0.6 ²
Unemployed¹		208	210	-1.1
Labour force, total		2,555	2,529	1.0
Unemployment rate, %		8.1	8.3	-0.2 ²
Economically inactive, total		1,358	1,375	-1.2
- discouraged job seekers		38	38	-0.9
- other disguised unemployment		76	89	-14.8
Ministry of Labour's Labour Exchange Statistics:
Unemployed job seekers	317		320	-1.1
- unemployed over a year	80		87	-7.5
Employed with subsidised measures	34		41	-15.2
In labour market training	25		28	-10.2
In trainee and job alternation places	13		14	-5.6
New vacancies in labour exchange offices	12		15	-17.7
Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column ¹ Based on the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)				² percentage points

According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 208,000 unemployed in last year's December, i.e. 2,000 fewer than in December 2000. The change is within the margin of error (± 14 000). The rate of unemployment was 8.1 per cent, having been 8.3 per cent in December 2000. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the unemployment rate in December 2001 was 9.1 per cent, whereas in October and November 2001 it stood at 9.2 per cent. This change, too, is within the margin of error.

The unemployment rate for men was 7.8 per cent and that for women 8.4 per cent. The unemployment rate for women fell by 0.5 percentage points, while that for men remained unchanged. The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 14.8 per cent, while in December 2000 it was 14.5 per cent. The rate of unemployment was lowest, or 5.6 per cent, in the Province of Southern Finland and highest in the Province of Lapland, at 12.9 per cent. The rate of unemployment rose in a number of industries, but fell in trade, community and personal service activities, and business activities.

According to the Labour Force Survey, the average number of employed persons in 2001 was 2,367,000, which is 32,000 more than in the year 2000. The corresponding number of unemployed persons was 238,000, i.e. 15,000 fewer than in 2000. The rate of unemployment for 2001 was 9.1 per cent and the employment rate among population aged 15 to 64 was 67.7 per cent. The rate of unemployment fell by 0.7 per cent and the employment rate rose by 0.8 percentage points from the year before.

At the end of December 2001, there were 317,000 persons registered, in accordance with the Unemployment Security Act and the Labour Exchange Office Regulations, as job seekers at the labour exchange offices. This is about 3,000 fewer than in December 2000. Unemployment declined in the areas of ten but rose in the areas of five employment and economic development centres. The number of those covered by employment policy measures fell by 10,000 from December 2000 and was 2.9 per cent of the labour force. There were 38,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the labour exchange offices. Their number was about the same as in December 2000.

Differences between the Labour Force Survey and the Labour Exchange Statistics

The employment situation is monitored monthly both with the sample-based Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland and with the register-based Labour Exchange Statistics of the Ministry of Labour. The Labour Exchange Statistics describe the situation on the last weekday of the month. The data for the Labour Force Survey are collected for every week of the month.

The Labour Force Survey follows the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the practices required by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. According to them, a person is classified as unemployed if he or she is aged 15 or over, does not have a job, has actively sought employment in the past four weeks and would be available for work within two weeks. The Labour Exchange Statistics are based on legislation and administrative regulations.

The Labour Force Survey and the Labour Exchange Statistics apply two basically different statistical criteria to how actively a person seeks work and makes him/herself available on the labour market. Those unemployed persons who have neither contacted a labour exchange office for over four weeks, nor actively sought work in any other way either, are generally classified in the Labour Force Survey as belonging to disguised unemployment. Full-time students can be recorded as unemployed in the Labour Force Survey if they meet the ILO recommendations, whereas in the Labour Exchange Statistics they are not accepted as being unemployed during term time. Due to statistical differences, the number of unemployed job seekers does not agree with the number of unemployed calculated in accordance with the ILO recommendations. The difference between the December 2001 unemployment figures of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour was approximately the same as a year earlier.

Since the Labour Force Survey is a sample survey, its data allow for random variation. In respect of the unemployment rate, for example, the 95 per cent confidence interval or the margin of error is about ± 0.5 percentage points. The confidence interval for the number of unemployed is approximately ± 14,000 persons.

Inquiries:
Statistics Finland: Ms Salme Kiiski +358 91734 3230, Mr Hannu Siitonen +358 9 1734 3225, Mr Pekka Tossavainen +358 9 1734 3517, Mr Tapio Oksanen +358 9 1734 3228;
e-mail tyovoima.tilastokeskus@stat.fi, Internet http://www.stat.fi/tk/el/tyoll.html
Ministry of Labour: Mr Oiva Lönnberg +358 9 1856 8048, e-mail oiva.lonnberg@mol.fi; Internet http://www.mol.fi/katsaukset/
Latest seasonally adjusted unemployment figures published by the EU at: http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/