Finland's unemployment rate climbed to 9.4 percent in February, according to figures published by Statistics Finland on Tuesday.
The data-crunching agency's latest Labour Force Survey report revealed that 43,000 more people were out of work last month compared to February 2024.
"In February, the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of persons aged 15 to 74, or the proportion of the unemployed among the labour force stood at 9.4 percent, having been 7.8 percent one year earlier," the report said.
While unemployment figures rose, the number of people in employment also dropped — down by 64,000 — compared to the same period last year.
"The last time the employment rate trend was lower than this was in spring 2021, when we were still recovering from the dip caused by the coronavirus pandemic," Elina Pelkonen, a senior statistician at Statistics Finland, noted in a press release. "The unemployment rate trend, on the other hand, was last this high at the beginning of 2016."
Unemployment among men worst in EU
In total, according to Statistics Finland's figures, there were 146,000 unemployed men last month — currently the worst per capita figure in the EU, based on preliminary data.
This means the unemployment rate for men climbed above 10 percent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points on the rate in February 2024.
Finland overtook Spain in January as the EU country with the worst unemployment rate among men, when Finland's figure stood at 9.4 percent compared to Spain's 9.3 percent.
At that time, the average unemployment rate for men in the EU was 5.6 percent, according to figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
The agency has not yet published figures for all countries for February, meaning a direct comparison with Finland's situation in February is not currently available.
"It is quite possible that Finland will not improve its ranking in international comparisons in the coming months, as the domestic unemployment figures in February were even higher than before," Pertti Taskinen, senior statistician at Statistics Finland, noted.
He further added that the outlook for Finland's labour market is bleak, as there is currently no sector increasing employment at a rate that could compensate for the overall decline in employment.
In January, both Sweden (8.9 percent) and Spain (10.4 percent) had higher unemployment figures than Finland, which at the time stood at 8.7 percent.
Statistics Finland's report also revealed that the number of unemployed women in Finland stood at 117,000 in February, meaning a rate of 8.7 percent and a 2 percentage point increase on the same month last year.
The All Points North recently explored why foreign nationals may face job discrimination in Finland and looks at measures to improve jobseekers' chances.
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