Number of unemployed jobseekers rises in April Y-o-Y

The number of unemployed jobseekers totalled 275,300 at the end of April, according to the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment published on Wednesday.

The number is 29,200 more than a year earlier and 10,800 fewer than in the previous month.

The number of unemployed jobseekers includes the customers of Employment and Economic Development Offices and local government pilots on employment as well as people fully laid off.

Of the unemployed jobseekers, 156,700, or 18,200 more than in April a year ago, were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment.

At the end of April, the number of people laid off was 37,700 persons; a year-on-year increase of 13,100.

The number of people fully laid off totalled 27,400, representing an increase of 8,400 from April the year before. The number of people fully laid off fell by 6,400 from March.

The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 92,300, up 7,700 on the previous year.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 97,600, representing an increase of 5,100 on the year before.

The number of unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 was 30,300, representing an increase of 5,100 from April last year.

Of the unemployment periods of youths, 54.5 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and April. This is 3.1 percentage points fewer than the year before.

The number of new vacancies reported during April totalled 56,100, or 18,300 fewer than in April the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in April was 114,500, which is 55,900 fewer than a year ago.

At the end of April, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 117,800, which is the same number as the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, rehabilitative work and self-motivated studies.

Meanwhile, according to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in April the number of people in employment was 18,000 less than on the previous year. The trend of the employment rate was 72.5%, which was 1.4 percentage points lower than in April the year before.

According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 263,000, which is 41,000 more than a year ago. The trend of the unemployment rate was 8.2%, or 1.2 percentage points higher than the previous year.

The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the customer register of the Employment and Economic Development Offices and local government pilots on employment, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.