Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in Sep

The number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 279,700 at the end of September, which is 29,900 more than a year earlier and 100 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, 163,400, or 20,500 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 28,500; a year-on-year increase of 4,100.

The number of people fully laid off totalled 19,100, representing an increase of 1,400 from September the year before. The number of people fully laid off grew by 2,000 from August.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 98,700, up 8,800 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 99,400, representing an increase of 8,100 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 31,000, representing an increase of 5,100 from September last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 56.0 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and September. This is 3.3 percentage points fewer than a year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during September totalled 29,700, or 27,200 fewer than in September the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in September was 56,200, which is 53,100 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of September, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 111,700, down 1,000 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in September the number of people in employment was 54,000 less than on the previous year.

The trend of the employment rate was 71.9%, which was 1.4 percentage points lower than in September the year before.

The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.4%, or 1.0 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.