326,400 unemployed jobseekers in February

At the end of February, there were a total of 326,400 unemployed jobseekers. It is 36,700 more than a year earlier and 600 more than in the previous month. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the KEHA Centre.

The number of unemployed jobseekers includes the customers of municipal employment services and fully laid off persons. Nationwide, the status of 44,200 people was laid off at the end of February, which is 1,500 fewer than the year before. A total of 30,600 people fully laid off, which is 4,800 fewer than in February a year ago. The number of fully laid off persons remained unchanged compared to January.

113,400 were long-term unemployed

There were 113,400 long-term unemployed persons, or those who had been unemployed for at least one year without interruption, up 21,200 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over the age of 50 was 112,800, which is 10,600 more compared to the same time last year.

There were 38,100 unemployed jobseekers under the age of 25, which is 6,100 more than in last year’s February. In January and February, 44.5% of the unemployment periods of young people ended before reaching three months of unemployment, which is 8.7 percentage points less than a year before.

Decrease in the number of new vacancies

The number of new vacancies reported during February was 49,800, which is 16,900 fewer than in February last year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in February was 112,400, which is 39,000 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of February, 95,400 persons were in services included in the activation rate, which is 18,100 fewer than the year before. These services include pay subsidy, labour market training, rehabilitative work activities and independent study.

Statistics Finland: The trend of the unemployment rate 9.1%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in February the number of people in employment was 65,000 less than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 71.4%, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than in February the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 263,000, which is 43,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 9.1%, or 1.1 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Key differences between the Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey 

The information is based on the Employment Service Statistics of the KEHA Centre and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The source of the Employment Service Statistics of the KEHA Centre is the customer register of municipal employment services, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is a sample survey. 

In the Employment Service Statistics of the KEHA Centre, any persons who are not employed or acting as entrepreneurs are classified as unemployed. Persons fully laid off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of unemployed: a person is unemployed if they have actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work within two weeks. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland produces official unemployment figures that are internationally comparable.