Employment in Finland began to decline in March 2020

Employment in Finland

Employment and unemployment in Finland, March 2020

Employment and unemployment vary quite considerably by month and the change from the observation of the previous month mainly describes the seasonal aspects mainly related to seasonal phenomena rather than the trend in development. As a result, the most recent statistical data are compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In March 2020, the number of employed persons was 2 516 000 (margin of error ±34,000), which was 21 000 less than a year earlier. There were 23 000 fewer working men and 2 000 more employed women than in March 2019. The employment rate in Finland in March 2020 was 71,3%.

According to Statistics Finland's survey, there were 197 000 (margin of error ±20,000) unemployed people in March 2020, which was 6 000 more than one year earlier. The number of unemployed men was 111 000 and that of women 87 000.

The unemployment rate in Finland in March 2020 was 7,3% compared to 7,0 % a year earlier. The unemployment rate among men fell by 0,3 percentage points from March 2019 to 7,9% The unemployment rate for women rose by 0,9 percentage points to 6,6%. The unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, that is, the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force, stood at 25,8 %, which was 5,4 percentage points higher than one year previously.

Labour Force Survey data of Finland for the first quarter of 2020

In the first quarter (January-March) of 2020, the average number of employees was 2 528 000, which is 15 000 more than in the same period in 2019. The number of employed persons increased most in professional, scientific and technical activities, information and communication, human health and social work activities.

The average number of unemployed persons in the first quarter of 2020 was 194 000, which was 3 000 more than in January to March 2019. The unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2020 was 7,1%, which was the same as in the respective period of 2019.

Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland

At the end of March 2020, there were altogether 309 000 persons registered as unemployed job seekers at the employment and economic development offices (TE Services). The number of unemployed job seekers was 71 000 higher than in March last year and 60 900 higher than in February 2020. In February 2020 the number of unemployed jobseekers was 248 147. The rapid growth in the number of unemployed jobseekers in March was due to the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

At the end of March, the number of fully laid off persons registered at the employment and economic development offices was 65 000, which was 50 000 more than twelve months earlier.

During this March, 63 000 new vacancies were reported to the employment and economic development offices, which was 10 000 fewer than in the previous year's March.

Statistic data, March 2020:

Source: You can find full statistic data at Statistics Finland website and Statistics Finland's databases.

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland data.