Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in July

The number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 306,000 at the end of July, according to the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published on Tuesday.

The number is 27,200 more than a year earlier and 12,700 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, 177,100, or 19,100 more than in July a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of July, there were 28,800 laid off people; a year-on-year increase of 5,700.

The number of people fully laid off totalled 20,900, representing an increase of 2,500 from July the year before. The number of people fully laid off increased by 1,100 from June.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 98,600, up 6,400 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 103,500, representing an increase of 6,500 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 36,700, representing an increase of 5,700 from July last year.

Of the unemployment periods of youths, 55.3 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and July. This is 2.6 percentage points fewer than the year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during July totalled 25,100, or 25,000 fewer than in July the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in July was 48,200, which is 53,500 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of July, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 101,400, up 1,300 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

Meanwhile, according to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in July the number of people in employment was 54,000 more than on the previous year.

The trend of the employment rate was 72.4%, which was 0.9 percentage points lower than in July the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 229,000, which is 34,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.3%, 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.