Unemployment rate 7.5 per cent in July

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in July 2017 was 207,000, which was 6,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent, having been 7.8 per cent in July of the year before. There were 31,000 more employed than in July of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 18,000 lower than one year earlier.

Unemployment rate and trend of unemployment rate 2007/07–2017/07, persons aged 15–74

In July 2017, the number of employed persons was 2,556,000 (margin of error ą33,000), which was 31,000 more than a year earlier. There were 42,000 more employed men and 10,000 fewer employed women than in July 2016.

The employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 72.0 per cent, having been 71.1 per cent one year earlier. The employment rate for men rose by 2.2 percentage points from last year’s July to 74.6 per cent. The employment rate for women fell by 0.5 percentage points to 69.4 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 69.3 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 207,000 unemployed in July 2017 (margin of error ą18,000), i.e. 6,000 fewer than in July of the year before. The number of unemployed men was 107,000 and that of women 100,000.

At 7.5 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points lower in July than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.4 per cent and women’s 7.7 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent.

In July, there were a total of 628,000 young people aged 15 to 24 . Of them, 352,000 were employed and 47,000 unemployed. The number of young people in the active population, i.e. the employed and unemployed in total, was 399,000. In July, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 11.7 per cent, which was 2.6 percentage points lower than one year previously. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 20.1 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 7.4 per cent.

There were 1,352,000 persons in the inactive population in July 2017, which was 18,000 fewer than one year earlier. Of the inactive population, 132,000 persons were in disguised unemployment , which was 34,000 fewer than in July 2016.

Changes in employment 2016/07–2017/07 according to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, population aged 15 to 74

	Year/Month		Change
	2016/07	2017/07	2016/07 - 2017/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Population total	4 108	4 115	0,2
Active population total	2 738	2 763	0,9
Employed	2 525	2 556	1,2
– employees	2 178	2 240	2,8
– self-employed persons and unpaid family workers	347	316	–8,8
Unemployed	214	207	–2,9
Inactive population	1 369	1 352	–1,3
– persons in disguised unemployment	165	132	–20,4
	Per cent, %		Percentage points
Employment rate, persons aged 15 to 64	71,1	72,0	0,9
Unemployment rate	7,8	7,5	–0,3
Activity rate	66,7	67,2	–0,5
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column. The data comply with the ILO/EU definition.

Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

At the end of July 2017, there were altogether 329,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 49,000 lower than in July 2016.

Unemployment fell in July from the corresponding period in 2016 in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres: most in Pirkanmaa (–21%), Central Finland (–19%) and Kainuu (–17%). At the end of July, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 14,000, which was 8,000 fewer than twelve months earlier.

The number of persons engaged in services included in the activation rate totalled 100,000 at the end of July, which was the same number as in July of the year before. Altogether, 3.6 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy services.

There were 46,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 9,000 lower than in last year's July. During this July, 39,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 3,000 more than in July last year.

Changes 2016/07–2017/07 according to the Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

	Year/Month		Change
	2016/07	2017/07	2016/07 - 2017/07
	1000 persons		Per cent, %
Unemployed job seekers	378	329	–13,0
– unemployed over a year	127	106	–16,5
Services, total	99	100	0,4
– employed	23	24	2,2
– in labour market training, in training	17	16	–9,4
– engaged in work/training trials	8	8	–2,2
– as a job alternation substitute, in rehabilitative work, self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit	50	52	3,4
New vacancies at employment and economic development offices	36	39	9,0
Unrounded figures are used in the Change column.

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

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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 Economic Affairs and Employment

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 2017, July. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Pertti Taskinen 029 551 2690, Ulla Hannula 029 551 2924, tyovoimatutkimus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Quality Description: Labour force survey (22.8.2017)

Updated 22.8.2017

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Labour force survey [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7857. July 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 16.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2017/07/tyti_2017_07_2017-08-22_tie_001_en.html