Employment and unemployment in February 2003

- 16,000 fewer employed than a year ago
- Employment rate 66.1 per cent
- Number of unemployed 13,000 lower than a year ago
- Rate of unemployment 9.0 per cent, 229,000 unemployed
- 35,000 new vacancies at labour exchange offices

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, there were 16,000 fewer employed in February 2003 than a year earlier. The numbers of both wage-earners and self-employed persons declined. The number of wage-earners engaged in continuous full-time work went down by 11,000. There were 8,000 more fixed-term employment relationships than one year earlier. During February, 35,000 new vacancies, i.e. the same number as in February 2002, were reported to the labour exchange offices.

In February, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 66.1 per cent, which is 0.5 percentage points lower than one year ago. The employment rate for men remained almost unchanged, whereas that for women fell by one percentage point and was 64.7 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the employment rate was 67.8 per cent. Compared to last year's February, employment grew in technical and business services and in transport. Employment declined in manufacturing, agriculture and forestry, and in health care services. Employment increased in the Province of Eastern Finland and decreased in the Province of Western Finland.

Changes in the labour force 2/2002 - 2/2003, thousand

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	February 2003	February 2002	CHANGE, % 2/02 - 2/03
Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey:
Employed, total	2 320	2 336	-0.7
- wage-earners	2 027	2 040	-0.6
- self-employed and unpaid family workers	293	296	-1.0
Employment rate, %	66.1	66.6	-0.5 ²
Unemployed¹	229	242	-5.3
Labour force, total	2 549	2 578	-1.1
Unemployment rate, %	9.0	9.4	-0.4 ²
Economically inactive, total	1 372	1 336	2.7
- discouraged job seekers	33	32	2.2
- other disguised unemployment	53	56	-5.5
Ministry of Labour's Labour Exchange Statistics:
Unemployed job seekers	300	312	-3.9
- unemployed over a year	75	79	-6.0
Employed with subsidised measures	36	36	-0.8
In labour market training	33	26	27.7
In trainee and job alternation places	19	15	29.4
New vacancies in labour exchange offices	35	35	0.8
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 229,000 unemployed in February, i.e.13,000 fewer than a year before. The rate of unemployment was 9.0 per cent, while one year earlier it was 9.4 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the rate of unemployment was to 8.8 per cent.

In February, the unemployment rate for men was 9.0 per cent and that for women 8.9 per cent. Twelve months earlier, the respective rates were 9.6 per cent and 9.1 per cent. The rate of unemployment among young people aged 15 to 24 was 22.9 per cent, having been 20.8 per cent in February 2002. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the unemployment rate among young people was 20.8 per cent. The rate of unemployment was lowest, or 6.8 per cent, in the Province of Southern Finland and highest, or 13.6 per cent, in the Province of Eastern Finland. Among the industries, unemployment rate was highest in construction at 11.9 per cent.

In February, the number of unemployed persons who reported studying as their principal activity was 36,000. Among employed persons, 92,000 said their principal activity was studying.

At the end of February 2003, there were 300,000 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 12,000 fewer than in February 2002. Unemployment declined elsewhere in the country, but rose in the area of the employment and economic development centre of Uusimaa. The number of those covered by employment policy measures grew by 11,000 from last year's February and was 3.5 per cent of the labour force. There were 34,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the labour exchange offices. Their number was 2,000 lower than in February 2002.

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 February unemployment figures of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour was approximately the same as one year previously.

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 ± 0.6 percentage points. The confidence interval for the number of unemployed is approximately ± 15,000 persons.

Inquiries:
Statistics Finland: Mr Pekka Tossavainen +358 9 1734 3517, Ms Salme Kiiski +358 9 1734 3230, Mr Kalle Sinivuori +358 9 1734 3524, Mr Veli Rajaniemi +358 9 1734 3434;
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/