Unemployment|Unemployment increased last year in Finland, according to the latest data from Statistics Finland.
The unemployed the number and unemployment rate increased last year in Finland. The issue is clear from Statistics Finland’s latest työvoimatutkimuksesta.
In 2024, there were 25,000 fewer employed and 34,000 more unemployed than the previous year. The unemployment rate rose by 1.2 percentage points, ending at 8.4 percent.
These figures are average values for the whole year and cover people aged 15 to 74. A more detailed breakdown reveals even more incendiary figures.
All in total, there were an average of 2.6 million employed and 238,000 unemployed between the ages of 15 and 74 in the country last year.
However, the most recent picture of the labor market emerges by comparing the statistics for the Christmas months. In December of the year that just ended, there were just under 2.6 million employed and 226,000 unemployed.
The number of unemployed people increased by 27,000 people in December compared to a year ago.
The trend figure, which balances seasonal fluctuations in the unemployment rate, was already 8.9 percent in December.
A year comparing the last ones, the gender differences are highlighted: there were 8,000 fewer employed men and even 48,000 fewer women than in December of the previous year.
“In the early stages of the weak economic cycle, employment fell in male-dominated sectors, which are typically sensitive to economic cycles. As the difficulties have dragged on, the depression in the labor market has unfortunately spread more widely to the economy, and women’s employment has fallen rapidly,” commented the Chief Economist of the Central Chamber of Commerce in the press release. Jukka Appelqvist.
“This high level of unemployment will still hold back the recovery of domestic consumption well into the current year.”
Size during the past year, the number of employed people grew the most in health and social services. They had 23,000 more employees than the previous year.
The largest drop, 13,000 employees, was in professional, scientific and technical activities.
The number of working hours also decreased by 0.3 percent in the country.