Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in June

The number of unemployed jobseekers was 293,300 at the end of June, according to the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published on Tuesday.

The number is 28,600 more than a year earlier and 27,000 more than in the previous month.

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 170,500 were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment, which is 19,400 more than in June a year ago.

At the end of June, the number of people laid off was 28,500 persons; a year-on-year increase of 7,700.

The number of people fully laid off totalled 19,800, representing an increase of 4,000 from June the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 500 from May.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 95,300, up 4,300 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 99,800, representing an increase of 6,500 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 35,800, representing an increase of 5,900 from June last year.

Of the unemployment periods of youths, 55.2 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and June. This is 2.8 percentage points fewer than the year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during June was 23,800, or 37,700 less than in June the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in June was 60,100, which is 63,700 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of June, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 105,700, up 800 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

Meanwhile, acording to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in June the number of people in employment was 41,000 less than on the previous year.

The trend of the employment rate was 72.3%, which was 1.2 percentage points lower than in June the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 242,000, which is 31,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.2%, or 1.0 percentage points higher than the previous year.

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.