The number of long-term unemployed exceeded the peak of the COVID pandemic

At the end of March, there were a total of 320,400 unemployed jobseekers. It is 34,200 more than a year earlier and 6,000 fewer than in the previous month. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the KEHA Centre.

"The number of unemployed jobseekers includes clients of municipal employment services and those fully laid off," says Researcher Sebastian Adolfsson from the Development and Administrative Services Centre (KEHA Centre). At the end of March, 40,000 people were laid off nationwide, which is 4,400 fewer than the year before. A total of 27,000 people were fully laid off, which is 6,800 fewer than in March last year. Since February, the number people fully laid off decreased by 3,600.

115,000 were long-term unemployed

"In March, there were 115,000 long-term unemployed persons, or those who had been unemployed for at least one year without interruption, up 23,600 on the previous year. The number exceeded the peak of the COVID pandemic by 1,000, which happened in the summer of 2021," Adolfsson says.

There were 37,200 unemployed jobseekers under the age of 25, which is 5,700 more than in last year's March. In January–March, 43.5 per cent of the unemployment periods of young people ended before three months of unemployment, which is 10.9 percentage points less than a year before. The number of unemployed jobseekers over the age of 50 was 111,500, up 10,400 on the same time last year.

Decrease in the number of new vacancies

"The number of new vacancies reported in March was 46,500, which is 9,400 fewer than in March last year. A slight growth can be seen in new vacancies for craft and related trades workers – a 6 per cent increase from last year," says Adolfsson. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in March was 105,300, which is 29,600 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of March, 96,500 persons were in services included in the activation rate, which is 19,900 fewer that 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 9.3%

According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in March the number of people in employment was 12,000 less than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 71.5%, which was 1.1 percentage points lower than in March the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 285,000, which is 31,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 9.3%, or 1.2 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.