Finland’s unemployment increased in July from a year earlier while the number of people in work remained unchanged, as economic growth has yet to translate into stronger hiring.

Statistics Finland recorded 289,000 unemployed people aged 15 to 74 in July 2026, an increase of 20,000 from July 2025. The number of employed people stood at 2.637 million, unchanged year on year.

The trend unemployment rate remained at 10.5 per cent, while the trend employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 stood at 75.4 per cent.

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 9.9 per cent from 9.3 per cent a year earlier. The employment rate among people aged 20 to 64 slipped by 0.1 percentage points to 76.4 per cent.

Women accounted for the annual increase in unemployment. Statistics Finland recorded 139,000 unemployed women in July, 24,000 more than a year earlier. The number of unemployed men fell by 4,000 to 150,000.

The unemployment rate for women rose by 1.5 percentage points to 9.8 per cent, while the rate for men fell by 0.2 percentage points to 10.0 per cent.

Youth unemployment also remained high. The trend unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 24 stood at 22.6 per cent.

Jukka Appelqvist, chief economist at the Finland Chamber of Commerce, said the latest figures showed that a fall in employment had stopped but that the labour market had yet to enter a period of growth.

“The positive thing is that the decline in employment has stopped. For now, we are still moving sideways, and the economy’s strong growth is not yet showing more clearly in the labour market,” Appelqvist said in a Chamber of Commerce statement.

The labour force grew despite unchanged employment. Statistics Finland counted 2.925 million people in the active population in July, up 19,000 from a year earlier. The number outside the labour force fell by 18,000 to 1.24 million.

Appelqvist said weaker summer employment had affected the figures. He also noted that part-time employment had performed better than full-time employment.

Job vacancy figures provided another indication of hiring conditions. According to the Chamber of Commerce, 27,700 new vacancies were reported to employment services in July, slightly more than a year earlier. A total of 50,200 vacancies were available during the month, an increase of 1,000 from July 2025.

Appelqvist said company surveys had shown improved hiring expectations, but those intentions had not resulted in a rise in recruitment by July.

“Employment trends will be easier to assess as the autumn progresses, as July is an exceptional month in the Finnish labour market because of the holiday season,” he said.

He said Finland’s economy had been growing since late 2025, creating grounds for expectations that employment would follow. Businesses, though, remain cautious after the weak economic cycle.

“Vacancies are still below their usual level, but with some goodwill, the number of job advertisements shows movement in the right direction,” Appelqvist said. “The weak economic period has made companies cautious, and for now they are still gathering the confidence to recruit.”

HT