Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in May

The number of unemployed jobseekers rose by 3,500 in May this year from May of last year, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release on Tuesday.

The number of new vacancies reported totalled 75,600. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in May was 150,500, which is 71,100 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of May, the number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 238,900.

The number of unemployed jobseekers includes the customers of Employment and Economic Development Offices and local government pilots on employment as well as people fully laid off.

Of the unemployed jobseekers, 137,500, or 6,500 more than in May a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of May, the number of people laid off was 20,000 in the whole country; a year-on-year increase of 1,900.

The number of people fully laid off totalled 14,500, representing an increase of 2,500 from May the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 4,500 from April.

The number of long-term unemployed. those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — totalled 89,900, which was down 5,500 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 88,800, or 2,600 fewer than at the same time a year earlier.

Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 24,300, representing a decrease of 700 from May last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 57.6 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and May. This is 3.8 percentage points fewer than the year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during May totalled 75,600, or 36,000 fewer than in May the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in May was 150,500, which is 71,100 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of May, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 114,500, up 1,800 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in May the number of people in employment was 39,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 74.3%, which was 0.5 percentage points higher than in May the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 266,000, which is 39,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 6.9%, or 0.4 percentage points higher than the previous year.