Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in Aug, vacancies wane

The number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 279,600 at the end of August, which is 30,100 more than a year earlier and 26,400 fewer 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, 164,400, or 20,000 more than in August a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of August, the number of people laid off was 26,000 persons; a year-on-year increase of 6,300. The number of people fully laid off totalled 17,200, representing an increase of 2,500 from August the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 3,700 from July.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 96,900, up 6,100 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 98,500, representing an increase of 7,700 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 31,500, representing an increase of 5,500 from August last year.

Of the unemployment periods of youths, 55.0 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and August. This is 2.8 percentage points fewer than a year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during August totalled 30,600, or 34,200 fewer than in August the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in August was 54,300, which is 60,100 fewer than a year ago.

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, the number of unemployment total was 214,000, which is 22,000 more than a year ago.

The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.3%, or 0.9 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.