Employment service statistics: documentation of statistics
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
Statistical presentation
The StatFin database and the Employment Bulletin contain key Employment Service Statistics data on jobseekers, unemployed jobseekers, services and job vacancies. Statistics on jobseekers are compiled according to categories such as jobseeker group. A wide variety of data on unemployed jobseekers is available by education and occupation; age group; gender; Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) region; and duration of unemployment. Vacancies are likewise broken down by region, occupational group and industry. Furthermore, the number of employment services provided during a month is also available.
The primary purpose of the Employment Service Statistics is to serve as a monitoring and measurement tool for employment and economic development activity, which provides data used to develop and increase the amount of services needed by client groups. In addition, data from the Employment Service Statistics is extensively used in research and public administration and by those who actively follow the labour market. Hopefully, the Employment Service Statistics will also be of interest to the media, relevant organisations and trade unions, as well as private citizens.
Statistical population
Statistical unit
Unit of measure
Reference period
Quarterly and annual averages are based on average monthly results, which means that they describe the situation in an ‘average’ month of the statistical months in question.
Reference area
Sector coverage
Time coverage
Frequency of dissemination
The released data is final. Monthly data is released within approximately three weeks of the end of each statistical month. Quarterly and annual averages are released at the same time with the data from the last month of each quarter. Four-monthly data is released at the same time with the data from the last month of each four-month period. Semiannual statistics are released at the same time with the data from June and annual statistics are released at the same time with the data from January.
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
In order to ensure the correctness of the data in the statistics system, the statistical data is spot-checked before its release, making it possible to correct any errors in the statistical tables prior to release. In addition, consistency between the statistics system and the client service system and variables is ensured through cooperation between the experts responsible for the statistics, the register and the substance issues in question.
Timeliness
Punctuality
Data revision
Measurement error
Processing error
Errors are corrected and users are informed of these as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment communicates about any significant errors to the same extent and using the same channels as for actual releases.
Any corrected statistical releases are supplemented with an indication of the correction and the date of correction. If possible, the original, erroneous data is also left in place.
Any typing and other such formal errors are corrected as swiftly and flexibly as possible and these are not specifically indicated on the website.
Any changes made to statistics databases are communicated on the web page entitled ‘Changes in the database’. Statistics databases will only maintain the most recent data.
Any deviations from the schedule are also considered error situations. Should the release of statistical data be delayed significantly from the specified date, the delay will be announced on the website of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
Comparability
Coherence and comparability
Comparability - geographical
The register-based Employment Service Statistics are not comparable with statistics based on corresponding registers from other countries due to different national legislations, procedures and definitions. However, the European Commission also collects and publishes registered unemployment figures from EU Member States on an annual basis in its Labour Market Policy (LMP) database as reference data, both on its website and in the publications of the database.
Comparability - over time
The Statistics were initially fairly limited, only covering total numbers of jobseekers and vacancies. The data content has expanded over decades as a result of a considerable increase in both classifiers and statistical items.
Coherence - cross domain
Statistics Finland’s Job Vacancy Survey produces sample-based statistics on a quarterly basis. Statistics Finland’s statistics on job vacancies include jobs which employers have aimed to fill from outside the workplace, regardless of the recruitment channel. In other words, the data also covers jobs for which employees have only been recruited through private employment services or direct personal contacts, for example. However, even the statistics on job vacancies do not include all jobs, since jobs in certain sectors or workplaces with no employed personnel are excluded from the statistics. The differences between the method of presenting job vacancies in the Employment Service Statistics and Statistics Finland’s statistics on job vacancies are described in more detail in the following report (in Finnish): Tilastokeskuksen ja työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön tilastojen vertailu [Comparison between the statistics of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment], available online at: https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/til/atp/men.html.
Statistics Finland’s register-based employment statistics (RES) are based on total data derived from the register data of different authorities. RES data on a person’s activities mainly describes the last week of the year. As RES data on unemployment is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s register of jobseekers, it is consistent with Employment Service Statistics data. The statistics take a good 18 months to complete; preliminary data is ready within about a year. The concepts of the employment statistics based on administrative registers are not internationally comparable.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) publish statistics on payments of unemployment-related benefits. The Kela and FIN-FSA data takes the payment of benefits into account in terms of how many people receive benefits, how much of each benefit is paid and on what grounds.
Coherence -national accounts
Source data and data collections
Source data
Data collection
Frequency of data collection
Cost and burden
Methods
Data validation
Seasonal adjustment
The trend components of the time series are calculated with the TRAMO/SEATS method recommended by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, using the Demetra+ software. Due to the method used, the last figures of the trend change slightly when the data of the following month is inserted into the time series. When using seasonally adjusted series and trend series, it is advisable to bear in mind that the TRAMO/SEATS method bases the latest months partially on model-based forecasts, which means that particular caution is required when drawing conclusions from these.
Documentation on methodology
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment<o:p></o:p>
Contact organisation unit
Employment and Well-Functioning Markets Department<o:p></o:p>
Legal acts and other agreements
Confidentiality - policy
Confidentiality - data treatment
The Privacy Policy is available online at: https://tem.fi/tietosuojaselosteet (Privacy policy for the Employment Service Statistics).
Release policy
Data sharing
Accessibility and clarity
The results of the Employment Service Statistics are published in the Labour Market series of the Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). The most important monthly data is released on the specified dates on the Employment Service Statistics subsite at https://tem.fi/en/employment-bulletin-and-employment-service-statistics. The subsite includes links to the description, concepts and definitions of the statistics and the Employment Service Statistics database tables that are available free of charge from the StatFin database. Key data from four-monthly, semiannual and annual statistics is also released in the StatFin service. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) also publish some of the Employment Service Statistics data on their own websites.
Micro-data access
Under section 13 of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment may disclose data on the basis of a specific licence decision for the purposes of scientific research and statistical analysis in a format that does not allow direct identification. The Statistics Act prohibits the use of any data collected for statistical purposes as part of investigations, supervision, legal proceedings, administrative decision-making, or for consideration of a matter concerning a business enterprise.
Data revision - policy
The Employment Service Statistics may contain deviations or errors due to several stages of the statistical process. There may either have been an error in statistical production or the data received from the client register may have contained errors. In such cases, the aim is to identify the error source as soon as possible and to produce corrected statistical data. Users are informed of any corrections on the Employment Service Statistics subsite and, depending on the situation, also in a news release issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Information on revisions is available on the Statistics subsite at: https://tem.fi/en/release-dates-of-statistics-and-description-and-quality-description
User needs
The primary purpose of the Employment Service Statistics is to serve as a monitoring and measurement tool for employment and economic development activity, which provides data used to develop the amount of services needed by client groups. The Employment Service Statistics data is also used more widely in support of making decisions, preparing labour market policy forecasts and plans, and monitoring the employment effects of various measures. Key users of the results include the employment and economic development administration, ministries, bodies responsible for regional planning, employer and employee organisations, universities and research institutes, international organisations and the European Union.
User satisfaction
Quality assessment
Quality assurance
In its statistics compilation, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment complies with the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on the Code. The Code of Practice concerns the independence and accountability of statistical authorities and the quality of processes and the data being published. Its principles are compatible with and supplementary to the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission. The quality criteria of the Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
The Employment Service Statistics are official statistics. The Official Statistics of Finland form a comprehensive collection of statistics describing the development and state of society. They comprise nearly 300 sets of statistics on 26 different topics. The producers of the Official Statistics of Finland have signed on to a joint quality commitment to shared quality objectives and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of the Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. Good statistical practices are presented in Statistics Finland’s handbook entitled ‘Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics’
User access
The data is released to all users at the same time.
Prior to release, the Employment Service Statistics data may only be processed and communicated within the employment and economic development administration by individuals who are involved in compiling the Statistics or require the data in their own work before its release date.
In special cases, data may be disclosed prior to the official release date in keeping with a pre-release embargo policy. Such situations include statutory or contractual data submissions to Statistics Finland for the purpose of producing a post-release publication or mandatory reporting to the European Union. In such cases, the data must be marked as confidential until its release (the pre-release embargo policy requiring that the recipient will not make the data available in public before the specified date).
Are you looking for previously published documentation?
The documentation released before 5.4.2022 can be found on the archive pages of the statistics.
Go to the archive page