A client entering a TE Office in Pasila, Helsinki, on 16 March 2023. In August 2023, the number of unemployed job seekers stood at almost 250,000, more than four per cent higher than the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)
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THE NUMBER of job openings stood at 54,812 and that of unemployed job seekers at 249,506 at the end of August, reveal figures published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
“This is indicative of the economic situation, fewer jobs are being created,” Mika Maliranta, the director of the Labour Institute for Economic Research (Labore), summarised in an interview with YLE on Thursday.
“It’s indeed an alarming sign of the development.”
The situation has deteriorated markedly from the previous year. The number of job openings has decreased by 37 per cent, while the number of unemployment job seekers has risen by 4.3 per cent. The number of new job openings, meanwhile, fell by 32 per cent year-on-year to 64,738 and the number of filled jobs by almost 24 per cent to 9,800 in August 2023.
“Labour demand is clearly declining as we’re headed toward a weaker economic situation. That’s slowly starting to have an impact also on the labour market,” summarised Heikki Räisänen, a research director at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
He reminded, though, that not all openings are advertised publicly as some employers try to fill their vacancies through other channels.
Henna Busk, a senior economist at Pellervo Economic Research (PTT), stated to the public broadcaster that the labour market is taking a turn for the worse even though employment remains relatively high.
“Unemployment has already crept up for a couple of months. The weak economic situation will be reflected in the labour market before long, and also the difficulties in construction will increase unemployment,” she predicted.
The Bank of Finland forecast recently that the employment rate will drop from 787.1 per cent in 2022 to 77.9 per cent in 2023.
Maliranta reminded that although the cuts in housing and unemployment benefits planned by the government should have a positive impact on employment – fundamentally by forcing job seekers to consider a wider range of opportunities – their impact would be greater during an economic upswing.
“If you create these sorts of incentives during a downswing for the unemployed, more and more often the situation will be that no matter how much a job seeker wants a job, they can’t get one because none are available,” he said.
Decision makers, he added, should be aware of the consequences of their decisions.
“A really large share of people will be unemployed also after these spending cuts, meaning that a large group of people will be worse off. That decline in well-being is something you’ll then have to compare to the gained benefits.”
Busk added that during a downturn the government would ideally increase the availability of employment services.
“It’s important to make sure you preserve the skills of the unemployed, and participating in the services can also prevent social exclusion,” she said. “It’d be preferable if the unemployment security cuts were implemented, for instance, next autumn, when the economic situation will likely be better. The recession is expected to be short although of course no one knows what kinds of shocks the future brings for the economy.”
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
