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Image: Tiina Juutila / Yle
The employment rate trend in Finland reached 72.7% in July, the highest level since February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic began to affect the Finnish economy.
The effects led to a decline in the employment rate trend to 69.7% in June of last year, the lowest level throughout the pandemic.
However, Statistics Finland’s latest labor force survey found that there were around 86,000 more people – 45,000 men and 41,000 women – in employment in July compared to the same month last year. which brought the employment figure in Finland to 2.6 million.
Patrizio Laina, chief economist of the Finnish Confederation of Professional STTK, told Yle News that the latest employment figures are “surprising” but welcome, and could lead to higher wages for workers.
“An economic boom should normally mean wages go up, but that remains to be seen. In particular, wages in sectors experiencing labor shortages are expected to rise,” Lainà said. “If the 2% inflation target is maintained in the future, we need wages to move at a faster pace than in previous years.
Data from Statistics Finland also revealed that the number of unemployed in July fell by around 5,000 compared to July 2020.
There were 99,000 unemployed men in July and slightly more unemployed women (103,000). Unemployment rates fell most significantly in the regions of Ostrobothnia (27%), Pirkanmaa (26%) and Southern Ostrobothnia (25%).
Ministry figures also show an improvement in the situation
Figures released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment also show that the employment situation in Finland improved significantly in July 2020.
Ministry data revealed that there were a total of 322,600 unemployed job seekers registered at TE offices across the country in July, 64,900 fewer than in the same period there was a year.
However, that figure was 53,700 more than in July 2019, showing that the effects of the pandemic are still being felt in some sectors.
The ministry also noted that the number of long-term unemployed – people unemployed continuously for at least a year – stood at 113,900 in July, up 36,200 from the previous year.
Despite these figures, 72,200 new vacancies were reported in July, an increase of 25,800 from July 2020, and the number of unfilled vacancies in July stood at 136,000, up 49,300 by compared to a year ago.
The differences between the figures presented by Statistics Finland, the ministry, are explained by the fact that the Labor Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of unemployment: a person is unemployed if he has actively looked for a job. during the previous four weeks and is available for work over the next two weeks.
The figures provided by Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and therefore constitute the official Finnish unemployment statistics.
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