Unemployment in Finland reached the highest level in the EU

Unemployment was higher in Finland in November than in any other member state of the European Union.

Based on data published by Eurostat, the statistical authority of the European Union, on Thursday, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in November. In October, the unemployment rate was 10.4 percent.

Second unemployment was highest in Spain, where the unemployment rate was 10.4 percent in November. In October, the unemployment rate in Spain was 10.5 percent.

The unemployment rate is calculated as the share of the unemployed in the labor force of the same age, i.e. employed and unemployed.

“The unemployment rate for those born in Finland was 7.8 percent in the third quarter, but the unemployment rate for those born abroad rose to 19.3 percent. This means that the increase in the unemployment rate is largely explained by immigration, as the supply of work has grown more than the demand for it,” says a senior researcher Sakari Lähdemäki In the Business Research Institute.

Research institute Labore’s Forecast Manager Juho Koistinen largely agrees that unemployment has been increased especially by immigration.

“The worsening of unemployment is naturally also due to the weakness of the economic cycle. It should also be noted that the increase in the participation rate of 55-64-year-olds has increased the supply of work. When the economic cycle improves, unemployment will gradually ease over time,” says Koistinen.

The participation rate means what proportion of working-age people are employed or actively looking for work.

Luck the unfortunate thing is that, despite the increase in unemployment, the employment rate has not really decreased.

“The number of employed people remained stable last year and it is likely that the number of employed people will increase this year as the economic recovery continues. The unemployment rate may decrease slowly because the increase in the supply of labor will probably continue,” says Lähdemäki.

Koistinen also emphasizes as a positive thing that the employment rate has remained unchanged this year.

“The number of people employed in the private sector has already started to increase, while spending cuts have weakened employment in the public sector,” says Koistinen.

The latest based on forecasts, the recovery of the Finnish economy will strengthen significantly this year and unemployment will gradually ease.

The Bank of Finland predicts that the economy will grow this year by 0.8 percent, the European Commission by 0.9 percent and the Ministry of Finance by 1.1 percent.

Lähdemäki considers it an interesting observation that unemployment has decreased especially in Southern European countries, which had severe structural unemployment for years.

As a counterweight, unemployment has increased in many northern European countries, where unemployment has traditionally been lower.

“A lot of the European Union’s stimulus funding was directed to Southern Europe, which is probably one of the reasons for the decrease in unemployment in these countries,” says Lähdemäki.