Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in Dec

The number of unemployed jobseekers was 297,600 in Finland at the end of December, which is 37,200 more than a year earlier and 33,400 more than in the previous month, according to the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published on Thursday.

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, 162,000, or 21,300 more than in December a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of December, the number of people laid off was 49,800 persons; a year-on-year increase of 20,200. The number of people fully laid off totalled 39,600, representing an increase of 16,000 from December the year before. The number of people fully laid off grew by 13,600 from November.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 90,600, up 4,400 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 104,300, representing an increase of 8,400 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 33,400, representing an increase of 5,300 from December last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 59.7 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and December. This is 2.2 percentage points fewer than the year before.

Meanwhile, the number of new vacancies reported during December totalled 44,800, which is 27,900 fewer than in December the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in December was 82,100, which is 47,400 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of December, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 106,700, down 500 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

The Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, however, said that in December the number of people in employment was 5,000 more than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 73.1%, which was 1.1 percentage points lower than in December the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 199,000, which is 12,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.6%, or 0.7 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.