Declining employment

From June to September the number of employed persons decreased by 23 000. The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.1 per cent of the labour force.

The unemployment rate of August was revised down from 3.2 to 3.1 per cent.

Adjusted for seasonal variations The Labour Force Survey (LFS) shows a decrease in employment of 23 000, or 0.8 per cent from June (as measured by the average of the three months from May to July) to September (as measured by the average of the three months from August to October). It is the young part of the working-age population that the decrease in the employment has mostly affected, and the decline is divided equally between men and women.

Unemployment remains stable

According to the LFS, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment increased by 3 000 persons from June to September. The increase is equivalent to an increase of 0.1 percentage point; this is within the error margin of the LFS.

In comparison for the same period, seasonally-adjusted figures for those registered unemployed with the Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV) remained stable at the same level as in August. Including persons on government initiatives to promote employment there was an increase of 4 000.

Unemployment still rising in Europe

From June to September, unemployment continued to rise in Europe. In the EU countries, the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point, ending at 9.6 per cent, while in France it rose from 9.5 to 10.0 per cent. In the same period, Denmark had an increase in the unemployment rate from 6.0 to 6.3 per cent. All figures refer to seasonally-adjusted data from Eurostat.

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