Finland’s unemployment rate rose to its highest level of the 21st century in May, while employment continued to weaken, according to new figures published by Statistics Finland.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 to 74 reached 376,000 in May, an increase of 68,000 from the same month a year earlier.

It was the highest unemployment figure recorded since 1998.

The unemployment rate climbed to 12.7 per cent, up from 10.5 per cent in May 2025. Statistics Finland said the figure represents the highest unadjusted unemployment rate recorded during the 2000s.

The increase was driven largely by younger jobseekers entering the labour market at the end of the academic year.

According to Statistics Finland, around 44,000 more people aged between 15 and 24 were unemployed in May compared with a year earlier.

Joanna Viinikka, Senior Statistician at Statistics Finland, said May typically produces the highest unemployment figures of the year as students and recent graduates begin searching for work.

“Many young people are looking either for summer jobs or their first job after graduation in an already highly competitive labour market,” Viinikka said.

Young people accounted for roughly two-thirds of the annual increase in unemployment.

Statistics Finland noted that about 83 per cent of unemployed people in the 15 to 24 age group were enrolled in degree studies during May.

The underlying trend also continued to deteriorate.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment trend rose to 10.8 per cent in May, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from April and 1.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Among young people, the trend increased by 2.4 percentage points over the past year and by five percentage points compared with two years ago.

Employment figures moved in the opposite direction.

The employment rate trend for people aged 20 to 64 fell by one percentage point from April to 75.2 per cent.

The figure has now declined by 0.8 percentage points over the past year.

Statistics Finland said the employment rate has fallen back to levels last seen in early 2021, when Finland was still recovering from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The total number of employed people aged 15 to 74 was 32,000 lower than a year earlier.

Employment among women showed the largest decline. The number of employed women fell by 26,000 over the year, while male employment declined by 6,000.

Despite the rise in unemployment, the size of the labour force remained high.

The number of people outside the labour force fell by 36,000 from a year earlier to 1.196 million.

“The labour force has remained at a high level for a long time, so there is potential for employment growth when the labour market begins to recover,” Viinikka said.

HT