2026.06.2405:13:48UTC+00Finnish Jobless Rate Highest Since 1998

Finland’s unemployment rate rose to 12.7% in May 2026, up from 10.5% a year earlier, reaching its highest level since May 1998. The number of unemployed increased by 68,000 year-on-year to 376,000, including 203,000 men and 173,000 women. By gender, the male unemployment rate climbed to 13.1%, 2.3 percentage points higher than a year before, while the female rate rose to 12.2%, an increase of 2.0 percentage points. Youth unemployment among those aged 15–24 also worsened, with the rate jumping to 37.8%, up 9.7 percentage points year-on-year. At the same time, total employment declined by 32,000 to 2.594 million, even as the labour force participation rate edged up to 71.3% from 70.4% a year earlier. The employment rate for people aged 20–64 also weakened, slipping to 76.5% from 77.0%.