Unemployment rate reduces to 7.3% in Oct

The number of unemployed persons in October 2017 was 197,000, which was 20,000 lower than one year ago, according to Statistics Finland.

The unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent, having been 8.1 per cent in October of the year before. There were 46,000 more employed than in October of the previous year. The number of persons in the inactive population was 18,000 lower than one year earlier.

In October 2017, the number of employed persons was 2,492,000 (margin of error ±33,000), which was 46,000 higher than a year earlier. There were 16,000 more employed men and 30,000 more employed women than in October 2016.

In October 2017, the employment rate , that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 70.0 per cent, having been 68.4 per cent one year earlier.

The employment rate for men grew by 1.1 percentage points from last year’s October to 71.2 per cent. Women's employment rate rose by 2.2 percentage points to 68.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 69.7 per cent.

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, there were 197,000 unemployed (margin of error ±17,000) in October 2017, i.e. 20,000 fewer than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 104,000 and that of women 93,000.

At 7.3 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points lower in October than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.4 per cent and women’s 7.2 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.5 per