Fewer employed persons and more unemployed persons in the second quarter of 2025 compared to one year ago

Number of hours worked decreased from the previous year

In the second quarter of 2025, the average number of employed persons was 2,629,000 (margin of error ±18,000), which was 14,000 fewer than in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

The number of hours worked by employed persons was 1,023.2 million hours in the second quarter of 2025, which was 2.3 per cent lower than a year ago.

In the second quarter of 2025, the number of employed persons decreased most in wholesale and retail trade (G) and increased most in construction (F) compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Share of part-time employed increased slightly

In the second quarter of 2025, the number of part-time employed persons was 487,000, which was 18.5 per cent of all employed persons. The share was 0.5 per cent higher from the year before.

Altogether 142,000 or 29.2 per cent of them worked part-time because full-time work was not available. There were 20,000 more persons belonging to this group than in the corresponding period one year before.

More unemployed persons than a year ago

The average number of unemployed persons in the second quarter of 2025 was 297,000 (margin of error ±14,000), which was 27,000 more than in April to June 2024. The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2025 was 10.2 per cent, having been 9.3 per cent one year earlier.

In April to June 2025, the number of persons in the inactive population was 1,239,000, which was nearly the same as one year earlier.