Unemployment rate increases to 8% in Q3

The number of unemployed persons in September 2017 was 214,000, which was 10,000 higher than one year ago, according to Statistics Finland.

The unemployment rate was 8.0 per cent, having been 7.7 per cent in September of the year before. The number of employed persons was nearly the same as in September of the previous year. The unemployment rate was 7.7 per cent in the third quarter (July to September), having been 7.6 per cent one year before.

In September 2017, the number of employed persons was 2,461,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was almost the same as one year earlier. There were 9,000 more employed men and 8,000 fewer employed women than in September 2016.

In September, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.3 per cent, having been 69.2 per cent one year earlier. Men’s employment rate was 70.3 per cent and women’s 68.3 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 69.4 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, in September 2017, the number of unemployed men was 111,000 and that of women 102,000.

At 8.0 per cent, the unemployment rate in September was 0.3 percentage points higher than one year earlier. The unemployment rate of both men and women was 8.0 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.7 per cent.