3 January 1996
Slow increase in jobs continues
There was further gradual improvement in employment in November. According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland jobs increased by 40 000 in one year, i.e. by 2 per cent. Men's employment improved, while that of women remained stable. There was a slight increase in employment both in the processing industries and in the service sector.Seasonally adjusted figures show that the number of employed grew by about two thousand from October to November. Seasonally adjusted unemployment, instead, was down by about three thousand.
Unemployment stood at 409 000 in November, which is 10 000 less than the year before. The unemployment rate was 16.7 per cent. The unemployment rate of men fell by over one percentage point to 17.1 per cent, whereas that of women remained at the same level as the year before, at 16.2 per cent. There were 100 000 unemployed persons in the public sector and service sector, while in trade the number was 60 000, and in construction 50 000.
There were 62 000 unemployed young persons in November. Unemployment amongst the young fell by 10 000 in one year to 28.6 per cent. In the whole age group of young people, which consists of 63 000 persons, 10 per cent were unemployed.
Unrounded figures are used in the CHANGE column figures.
The changes in the employment figures are fairly regular in the different months of the year. This annual seasonal variation has been removed from the trends in the diagrams. The cyclical fluctuation in the employment situation is more easily and quickly discerned from the trends than from non-graduated figures.
Two unemployment indicators
The data for the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are collected by interviewing each month about 12 000 Finns of working age. The Labour Force Survey is a panel survey based on a sample in which the same person is surveyed five times over a period of eighteen months. The data released here cover the period between November 13 and 19.
The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland produces data both on employment and unemployment. It is based on the international recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the data are comparable with the corresponding statistics produced in other countries.
The Ministry of Labour also publishes statistics on unemployment. The data on unemployed job applicants are from the last working day of each month. Owing to differences in methods and definitions, the unemployment figures published by Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Labour are not comparable. However, the change in the unemployment figures is generally such that the direction is the same, so that the figures of the Ministry of Labour exceed those of Statistics Finland by a few tens of thousands. Unemployment figures corresponding to these two types are also calculated in many other European countries. At the end of November 449 000 unemployed persons were registered in the job applicants' register of the Ministry of Labour.
Source: Labour Force Survey, November 1995
Inquiries: Mr. Oksanen, tel.+358 0 1734 3228 or
Mr. Hannu Siitonen, tel. +358 0 1734 3225