Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in Sept

The number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 249,800 at the end of September, which is 16,900 more than a year earlier and 300 more than in the previous month, according to the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published on Tuesday.

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, 143,000, or 11,300 more than in September a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of September, the number of people laid off was 24,400 persons; a year-on-year increase of 9,800. The number of people fully laid off totalled 17,700, representing an increase of 8,300 from September the year before. The number of people fully laid off increased by 3,000 from August.

The number of long-term unemployed those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year totalled 89,900, unchanged from the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 91,300, representing an increase of 2,400 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 26,000, representing an increase of 1,900 from September last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 59.3 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and September. This is 2.0 percentage points fewer than a year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during September totalled 56,900, or 32,500 fewer than in September the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in September was 109,300, which is 62,200 fewer than a year ago.

Meanwhile, according to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in September the number of unemployment total was 198,000, which is 9,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.3%, or 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous year.

There are some key differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey.

The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the customer register of the Employment and Economic Development Offices and local government pilots on employment, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.