Finland Sets EU Unemployment Record Again
Finland still has the highest unemployment rate in the entire EU, according to Eurostat’s latest statistics.
According to the latest Eurostat data, the July statistics, Finland’s unemployment rate is 10.5 percent. The highest unemployment rate in Finland this year was in May, at 10.8 percent. According to Statistics Finland, the May figure was even higher: 12.7 percent—the highest in Statistics Finland’s records going back to 2010.
The unemployment figures from Eurostat and Statistics Finland differ from each other because the statistics are based on slightly different calculation methods and statistical processing.
Spain is second in Eurostat’s unemployment statistics (10.0) and Sweden is third (8.6). The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment (3.3).
The unemployment rate describes the share of unemployed people in the labor force of the same age group. The figures published by Eurostat are seasonally adjusted, meaning that the effect of seasonal variation has been removed.
This Is How the Situation Has Developed
Spain had the highest unemployment rate in the EU for a long time, until Finland passed it in November last year.
However, Spain has managed to reduce unemployment year after year. According to Eurostat statistics, Spain’s unemployment rate stood at 13.2 percent in June 2022.
In Eurostat’s monthly data since February 2022, Finland has been in the top ten throughout, until it rose to second place more permanently in February last year.
Otherwise, the top five in unemployment statistics have also included Greece, Sweden and France.
The Economy Is Growing, So Why Is Unemployment Rising?
Experts have found many reasons for Finland’s unemployment situation.
One explanation is that the employment situation does not improve at the same time as economic growth. There is usually a delay of several months, but now the delay may be longer than usual, wrote MTV’s journalist Ossi Rajala a little over a week ago.
The long low economic cycle and the long series of “shocks” that preceded it, from the coronavirus pandemic to the crisis in Ukraine and economic uncertainty, may have raised the threshold for companies to hire employees, Juhana Brotherus, CEO of the Association for Finnish Work (Suomalainen työ), previously estimated.
The labor market reacts to economic upheavals with a delay, Petri Malinen, chief economist of the Finnish Entrepreneurs, reminded in June.
Employment is believed to start rising as long as economic growth continues in Finland. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also believes so.
“There are all the conditions for thousands of jobs to be created during the autumn, as long as strong economic growth continues,” the Prime Minister stated on Tuesday on Kymmenen uutiset shortly after the budget debate was completed.
Orpo also confirms the delay in the labor market mentioned by Malinen.
“It happens that first, when the economy starts to grow, it starts to show in employment with a delay of about half a year to a year,” Orpo stated.
Labore’s chief researcher Merja Kauhanen told Yle that she sees comforting signs in the figures published by Eurostat. According to her assessment, the growth of unemployment in Finland has stopped.
High unemployment has also been explained by the fact that a lot of new labor has entered the labor market, but there are no jobs available for them.
Source: MTV Uutiset (in Finnish)