Finland Times

 

Job seeker at the unemployment office in Helsinki. File photo Lehtikuva.

The unemployment rate has increased in the country in September though more people were employed during the period compared to the corresponding period in the last year.

 

According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in September 2014 was 218,000, which was 19,000 higher than a year ago and the unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent, having been 7.6 per cent in September of the year before.

 

There were 29,000 more employed persons than in September of the previous year.

 

In the third quarter (July to September), the unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent, which was 0.4 percentage points higher compared to the corresponding period of 2013. Employment remained almost unchanged compared with July to September 2013.

 

In September 2014, the number of employed persons was 2,447,000, which was 29,000 higher than a year earlier (margin of error ±32,000). The number of employed persons increased both in the private and the public sectors compared to September 2013.

 

In September 2014, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 68.2 per cent, having been 67.3 per cent one year earlier. Men’s employment rate was 68.4 per cent and women’s 68.0 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.4 per cent.

 

According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed men in September 2014 was 118,000 and that of women 100,000. At 8.2 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points higher in September than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent and women’s 7.7 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent.

 

In September, there were a total of 651,000 young people aged 15 to 24. Of them, 237,000 were employed and 52,000 unemployed. 

 

In September, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 17.9 per cent, which was the same as the previous year. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 19.4 per cent. The share of unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 among the population in the same age group was 8.0 per cent.

 

There were 42,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 5,000 higher than in last year’s September. During this September, 38,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 3,000 more than in September 2013.