Unemployment rate 8.3 per cent in August

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in August 2015 was 222,000, which was 26,000 higher than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 8.3 per cent, having been 7.4 per cent in August of the year before. There were 4,000 more employed than in August of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 25,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2005/08–2015/08, persons aged 15–74

In August 2015, the number of employed persons was 2,469,000 (margin of error ą33,000), which was 4,000 more than a year earlier. There were 10,000 more employed men and 6,000 fewer employed women than in August 2014.

In August, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 68.8 per cent, and it remained almost unchanged compared with August 2014. The employment rate for men rose by 0.4 percentage points to 69.4 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 0.6 percentage points to 68.2 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 67.7 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 222,000 unemployed (margin of error ą19,000) in August 2015, i.e. 26,000 more than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 119,000 and that of women 104,000. The number of unemployed women grew by 12,000 and of unemployed men by 13,000.

At 8.3 per cent, the unemployment rate in August was 0.9 percentage points higher than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent and women’s 7.9 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 9.5 per cent.

In August, there were a total of 643,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 281,000 were employed and 44,000 unemployed. Thus, the labour force of young people (employed and unemployed) totalled 324,000. In August, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 13.5 per cent, which was 2.3 percentage points higher than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 22.9 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 6.8 per cent.

There were 1,409,000 persons in the inactive population in August 2015, which was 25,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 147,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was almost the same as in August 2014.

Changes in employment 2014/08–2015/08 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2014/08	2015/08	2014/08 - 2015/08
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 096	4 101	0,1
Active population total	2 662	2 691	1,1
Employed	2 465	2 469	0,2
– employees	2 118	2 129	0,5
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	347	340	–2,2
Unemployed	197	222	13,1
Inactive population	1 434	1 409	–1,7
– persons in disguised unemployment	149	147	0,8
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	68,9	68,8	–0,1
Unemployment rate	7,4	8,3	0,9
Activity rate	65,0	65,6	0,6
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column. The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

At the end of August 2015, there were altogether 347,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as unemployed job seekers at the employment and economic development offices. The number of unemployed job seekers was 27,000 higher than in last year's August.

The number of unemployed job seekers increased in August from the corresponding period in 2014 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres apart from Kainuu (–2%): most in Uusimaa (13%), North Savo (13%), and South Ostrobothnia (12%). At the end of August, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 19,000, which was 1,000 more than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 110,000 at the end of August, which was 7,000 less than in August of the year before. Altogether, 4.1 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 48,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 4,000 higher than in last year's August. During this August, 37,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 1,000 more than in August 2014.

Changes 2014/08–2015/08 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

	Year/Month		Change
	2014/08	2015/08	2014/08 - 2015/08
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers ¹⁾	319	347	8,5
– unemployed over a year	92	113	22,8
Services, total	117	110	–6,3
– employed	39	25	–36,1
– in labour market training, in training	24	22	–8,8
– engaged in work/training trials	9	10	9,5
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	45	53	18,4
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	36	37	3,4
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

1) The law reform that entered into force at the beginning of 2013 and the change in the lay-off procedure on 1 July increase the number of unemployed job seekers somewhat.

Links: Law reform 1 January 2013
Change in the lay-off procedure 1 July 2013

Contact information for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy:
Petri Syvänen tel. +358 29 504 8050, http://www.temtyollisyyskatsaus.fi

Links

Labour Force Survey tables in databases

About seasonally adjusted trend

The accuracy of figures and the margins of error are explained in the quality description of the Labour Force Survey .

Comparison between the employment statistics of Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

Latest seasonally adjusted employment figures published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Job vacancy survey

Latest data on open job vacancies published by the EU can be found on Eurostat's home page http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Source: Labour force survey 2015, August. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Joanna Viinikka 029 551 3796, Kirsi Toivonen 029 551 3535, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (22.9.2015)

Updated 22.9.2015

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. August 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 16.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2015/08/tyti_2015_08_2015-09-22_tie_001_en.html