January 30, 2013 (TSR) – Finland’s unemployment rate saw a year-on-year decrease last month, new figures have revealed.
According to Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed persons in December 2012 was 180,000, which was 12,000 lower than one year ago. The unemployment rate was 6.9 per cent, having been 7.4 per cent in December of the year before. The amount of employed persons was nearly the same as in December 2011.
The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter (October to December) was 7.0 per cent, which was 0.2 percentage points higher than in the respective quarter of 2011. In 2012, the employment rate was 7.7 per cent, having been 7.8 per cent in 2011.
In December 2012, the number of employed persons was 2,413,000, which was 2,000 higher than a year earlier (margin of error ± 31,000). There were 12,000 more employed men and 10,000 less employed women than in December 2011.
In December, the employment rate among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 67.3 per cent, which was 0.2 percentage points higher than one year before. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 68.8 per cent.
The employment rate for women fell by 0.5 percentage points from last year’s December to 65.5 per cent. The employment rate for men rose by 0.8 percentage points to 68.9 per cent.
At 6.9 per cent, the unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage points lower in December than one year earlier. Men’s unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent and women’s 6.3 per cent. The trend of the unemployment rate was 7.7 per cent.
In December 2012, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 was 16.4 per cent, which was 1.4 percentage points lower than in the previous year’s December. The trend of the unemployment rate among young people was 18.8 per cent.
Labour Force Survey annual averages for 2012
In 2012, the average number of employed persons was 2,483,000, which was 10,000 more than in 2011. In 2012, the employment rate was 69.0 per cent, having been 68.6 per cent in 2011.
The unemployment rate for 2012 was 7.7 per cent. In 2011, the unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent and in 2010, it was 8.4 per cent. In 2012, the average number of unemployed persons was 207,000, which was 2,000 lower than in 2011.
In 2012, the number of hours worked by employed persons was roughly the same as in 2011. The amount of labour input per employed person also remained almost unchanged.
At the end of December 2012, there were altogether 282,000 persons registered in accordance with the Employment Office Regulations as job seekers at the employment and economic development offices . The number of unemployed job seekers was 27,000 higher than in December 2011.
Unemployment increased from the previous year’s December in the areas of all Employment and Economic Development Centres; most in Varsinais-Suomi (16%), Pirkanmaa (13%), North Ostrobothnia (13%) and Åland (29%). At the end of December, the number of temporarily laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 24,000, which was 5,000 higher than twelve months earlier.
The number of persons covered by labour market policy measures totalled 102,000 at the end of December, which was 3,000 fewer than in December of the year before. Altogether 3.9 per cent of the labour force was covered by labour market policy measures.
There were 35,000 unemployed job seekers aged under 25 registered at the employment and economic development offices. Their number was 3,000 higher than in December of the year before. During December, 29,000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which is 5,000 fewer than in December 2011.
Source: Labour force survey 2012, December. Statistics Finland
