Employment and unemployment in February 2008

- Number of employed persons 45,000 higher than one year earlier
- Employment rate 68.9 per cent
- Unemployment rate 6.4 per cent, 168,000 unemployed
- 66,000 new vacancies at employment offices

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, the number of employed persons in February was 2,465,000, or 45,000 higher than a year earlier. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the number of employed persons was 55,000 more than a year earlier. In the private employer sector the number of employed persons went up by 47,000. The number of wage and salary earners was 59,000 higher than one year previously. The number of employed persons went up in the Provinces of Southern and Western Finland.

In February, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 68.9 per cent, which was 0.8 percentage points higher than one year previously. The employment rate for men went up by 1.5 percentage points and was 70.5 per cent. The employment rate for women rose by 0.2 percentage points to 67.3 per cent. The trend of the employment rate was 70.6 per cent.

Changes in the labour force 2/2007 - 2/2008, thousand persons

	February 2008	February 2007	CHANGE, % 2/07 - 2/08
Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey:
Employed, total	2 465	2 420	1.9
- wage and salary earners	2 156	2 097	2.8
- self-employed and assisting family members	310	323	-4.0
Employment rate, %	68.9	68.1	0.8²
Unemployed¹	168	197	-14.7
Unemployment rate, %	6.4	7.5	-1.1²
Labour force, total	2 633	2 617	0.6
Labour force participation rate, %	65.9	65.9	0.1²
Economically inactive, total	1 362	1 357	0.4

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Unemployed job seekers	210	235	-10.5
- unemployed over a year	47	57	-17.4
Employed with subsidised measures	35	41	-15.0
In labour market training	31	35	-8.8
In trainee and job alternation places	17	19	-8.1
New vacancies at employment offices	66	59	11.9
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 168,000 unemployed in February 2008, i.e. 29,000 fewer than in February of the year before. At 6.4 per cent, the unemployment rate was 1.1 percentage points lower than one year before. The trend of the unemployment rate was 6.2 per cent in February.

The rate of unemployment was lowest in the Province of Southern Finland, where it stood at 5.7 per cent, and highest in the Province of Lapland, at 11.0 per cent. In February 2008, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 16.5 per cent, which was three percentage points lower than in the previous year's February. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 15.3 per cent.

At the end of February 2008, there were altogether 210,000 persons registered, in accordance with the Unemployment Security Act and the Employment Office Regulations, as unemployed job seekers at the employment offices. The number of unemployed job seekers was 25,000 lower than in February 2007. 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 11,000 lower than in February of the year before, and was 3.2 per cent of the labour force. There were 21,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment offices. Their number was 3,000 lower than in the previous year's February. During this February, 66,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment offices, which is 7,000 more than in February 2007.

Labour Force Survey content and data collection have been revised

As of the beginning of 2008, revisions have been introduced in the Labour Force Survey which broaden its data content. The definitions of some concepts have also been reviewed. The definitions of some concepts have also changed. The revisions are based on EU regulations and their aim is to improve the comparability of the Labour Force Surveys of different EU Member States.
http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2008-02-19_men_001_en.html

Differences between the Labour Force Survey and the Employment Service Statistics

The employment situation is monitored monthly both with the sample-based Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland and with the register-based Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The Employment Service 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 Employment Service Statistics are based on legislation and administrative regulations.

The Labour Force Survey and the Employment Service 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 the 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. In respect of the February unemployment rate, for example, the 95 per cent confidence interval, or margin of error, is about ± 0.5 percentage points. The confidence interval for the number of unemployed in February is approximately ± 14,000 persons.

Inquiries: Statistics Finland: Mr Juha Martikainen +358 9 1734 3225, Mr Pekka Tossavainen +358 9 1734 3517, Mr Veli Rajaniemi +358 9 1734 3434, Information service/Labour Force Survey +358 9 1734 2030, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi
Labour Force Survey home page: http://stat.fi/til/tyti/index_en.html

Ministry of Employment and the Economy: Mr Petri Syvänen, 358 10 60 48050, Internet: http://www.tem.fi/employmentbulletin

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU