Employment and unemployment in October 2007

- Number of employed persons 83,000 higher than one year earlier
- Employment rate 69,8 per cent
- Unemployment rate 6.2 per cent, 164,000 unemployed
- 44,000 new vacancies at labour exchange offices
- In January to October 2007, average number of employed 52,000 higher than one year earlier

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, the number of employed persons in October was 2,495,000, or 83,000 higher than a year earlier. Employment increased in both the private and the public sector. The share of wage and salary earners in continuous full-time employment was 75.7 per cent, whereas one year before it was 75.9 per cent. The number of employed persons went up in the Provinces of Southern and Western Finland.

In October, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.8 per cent, which was 1.9 percentage points higher than one year before. The employment rate of men was 70.7 per cent and that of women 68.8 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 70.3 per cent.

Changes in the labour force 10/2006 - 10/2007, thousand persons

	October 2007	October 2006	CHANGE, % 10/06 - 10/07
Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey:
Employed, total	2,495	2,412	3.4
- wage and salary earners	2,192	2,116	3.6
- self-employed and assisting family members	302	296	2.3
Employment rate, %	69.8	67.8	1.9²
Unemployed¹	164	187	-12.4
Unemployment rate, %	6.2	7.2	-1.0²
Labour force, total	2,658	2,598	2.3
Labour force participation rate, %	66.7	65.5	1.2²
Economically inactive, total	1,329	1,370	-2.9
- students	365	391	-6.8
- persons performing domestic work	80	87	-7.8

Ministry of Labour's Labour Exchange Statistics:
Unemployed job seekers	198	227	-12.6
- unemployed over a year	48	60	-19.9
Employed with subsidised measures	36	40	-8.5
In labour market training	34	34	-0.3
In trainee and job alternation places	19	19	-3.0
New vacancies at labour exchange offices	44	35	24.3
Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column ¹Based on the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation			²percentage points

According to the Labour Force Survey, there were 164,000 unemployed in October 2007, i.e. 23,000 fewer than in October of the year before. At 6.2 per cent, the unemployment rate was 1.0 percentage points lower than one year before. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.0 per cent in October.

The rate of unemployment was lowest in the Province of Southern Finland, where it stood at 4.5 per cent, and highest in the Province of Lapland, at 12.6 per cent. In October 2007, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 14.8 per cent, which was 2.1 percentage points lower than in October of the year before. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 16.7 per cent.

According to the Labour Force Survey, the average number of employed persons in the January to October 2007period was 2,494,000, which is 52,000 more than over the corresponding period in the year before. The average number of unemployed persons was 188,000, or 23,000 fewer than in the January to October period of 2006.

At end-October 2007, there were altogether 198,000 persons registered, in accordance with the Unemployment Security Act and the Labour Exchange Office Regulations, as unemployed job seekers at the labour exchange offices. The number of unemployed job seekers was 28,000 lower than in October 2006. Unemployment fell from the previous year in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres. The number of those covered by employment policy measures was 4,000 lower than in October the year before, and was 3.4 per cent of the labour force. There were 19,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the labour exchange offices. Their number was 4,000 lower than in last year's October. During this October, 44,000 new vacancies were reported to the labour exchange offices, which is 9,000 more than in October 2006.

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. Due to statistical differences, the number of unemployed job seekers may not agree with the number of unemployed calculated in accordance with the ILO recommendations.

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

Inquiries:
Statistics Finland: Mr Juha Martikainen +358 9 1734 3225, Mr Kalle Sinivuori +358 9 1734 3524, Mr Veli Rajaniemi +358 9 1734 3434, Information Service/Labour Force Survey +358 9 1734 2030
Email: tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi
Internet: http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/index_en.html

Ministry of Labour: Mr Oiva Lönnberg +358 10 60 48048 Internet: http://www.mol.fi/employmentbulletin

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU