Employment and unemployment in November 2003

- Number of employed persons 18,000 lower than a year ago
- Employment rate 65.9 per cent
- Number of unemployed nearly the same as one year before
- Rate of unemployment 8.2 per cent, 208,000 unemployed
- 18,000 new vacancies at labour exchange offices

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, the number of employed persons fell by 18,000 and that of unemployed persons by 2,000 from November 2002 to this year's November. The total number of labour force was thus 20,000 lower than one year earlier. The number of working age population grew by 11,000 over the year. There were 31,000 more persons outside the labour force than twelve months previously. Labour force participation rate among the population of working age fell by 0.7 percentage points to 64.2 per cent.

The number of self-employed persons rose, while that of wage earners fell from the year before. The number of wage earners engaged in continuous full-time work was 5,000 lower than the year before. There were 16,000 fewer part-time employment relationships than one year previously. Compared with last year's November, employment rose in transport and trade. Jobs declined in manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, agriculture and social services. Employment decreased in the Provinces of Southern and Western Finland.

In November, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 65.9 per cent, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than the year before. The employment rate for women fell by one percentage point to 64.3 per cent, while that of men went down by 0.3 percentage points to 67.4 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the employment rate was 67.0 per cent.

Changes in the labour force 11/2002 - 11/2003, thousand

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	October 2003	October 2002	CHANGE, % 11/02 - 11/03
Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey:
Employed, total	2 317	2 335	-0.8
- wage-earners	2 017	2 040	-1.1
- self-employed and unpaid family workers	300	295	1.7
Employment rate, %	65.9	66.5	-0.6 ²
Unemployed¹	208	210	-1.0
Unemployment rate, %	8.2	8.2	0.0 ²
Labour force, total	2 525	2 545	-0.8
Labour force participation rate	64.2	64.9	-0.7 ²
Economically inactive, total	1 406	1 375	2.2
- students	412	410	0.4
- persons performing domestic work	93	72	28.3
Economically inactive persons in disguised unemployment	103	105	-1.6
Ministry of Labour's Labour Exchange Statistics:
Unemployed job seekers	277	278	-0.2
- unemployed over a year	70	75	-5.5
Employed with subsidised measures	36	37	-2.9
In labour market training	35	37	-4.0
In trainee and job alternation places	23	19	20.6
New vacancies at labour exchange offices	18	17	2.3
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 November, i.e. 2,000 fewer than one year before. The change is within the margin of error (± 15,000). The rate of unemployment was 8.2 per cent, the same as twelve months previously. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the unemployment rate was 8.9 per cent. The unemployment rate for men was 8.3 per cent and for women 8.2 per cent. The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 19.8 per cent, whereas in last year's November it stood at 19.3 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal variation, the unemployment rate for young people was 22.3 per cent. The rate of unemployment was lowest in the Province of Southern Finland, i.e. 6.8 per cent, and highest in the Province of Lapland, at 11.6 per cent. Of all industries, the unemployment rate was highest in construction, 8.1 per cent.

According to the Labour Force Survey, over the January to November 2003 period, the average number of employed persons was 2,368,000, which is 8,000 fewer than in the corresponding period of last year. The number of unemployed persons was 237,000, or 3,000 fewer than in the January to November period of 2002. The rate of employment in the January to November period was 67.4 per cent, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than twelve months before.

At the end of November 2003, there were altogether 277,000 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 1,000 fewer than in November 2002. Unemployment grew in the areas of six and fell in the areas of nine employment and economic development centres. The number of those covered by employment policy measures increased by 1,000 from November last year and was 3.8 per cent of the labour force. There were 31,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the labour exchange offices. Their number was the same as in November 2002. During November, 18,000 new vacancies were reported to the labour exchanges offices, which is 1,000 more than in November 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 November 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 ± 0.5 percentage points. The confidence interval for the number of unemployed is approximately ± 14,000 persons.

Inquiries:
Statistics Finland: Mr Pekka Tossavainen +358 9 1734 3517, Mr Kalle Sinivuori +358 9 1734 3524, Ms Salme Kiiski +358 9 1734 3230, Mr Veli Rajaniemi +358 9 1734 3434; e-mail tyovoima.tilastokeskus@stat.fi,
Internet http://www.stat.fi/tk/el/tyoll.html ; http://www.stat.fi/tk/tp/verkkokoulu/ktk/tvt/index.html
Ministry of Labour: Mr Oiva Lönnberg +358 9 1604 8048; Internet http://www.mol.fi/katsaukset/
Latest seasonally adjusted unemployment figures published by the EU at: http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/

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