Labour Force Survey (LFS), July 2010:
Continued increase of the number of employed and hours worked
In July 4 744 000 persons aged 15-74 were employed – an increase of 98 000 since July 2009. The number of temporarily employed persons increased by 73 000. The number of hours worked increased by 7.0 percent. The number of unemployed persons was 415 000 and the unemployment rate was 8.0 percent. Seasonally adjusted data shows an upward trend in the number of employed persons and a downward trend in the number of unemployed persons.
Changes in the short term – Seasonally adjusted data1
According to seasonally adjusted data the number employed persons aged 15-74 amounted to 4 545 000 in July. The trend of employment is thus continuing to increase, which is explained by an increase among men and women. The increase is weaker among women.
The employment rate, that is the share of the population that is employed, was 64.7 percent seasonally adjusted, for the age group 15-74. The employment rate showed a continued positive trend that is weaker for women.
The number of unemployed aged 15-74 amounted to 423 000 persons, according to seasonally adjusted data, and the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent. The number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate have in recent months showed a downward trend which continued this month, both for men and women. The unemployment rate declined faster among men compared to women. The unemployment rate has since spring 2009 been higher for men than for women but is now approximately on the same level.
The number of persons in the labour force aged 15-74 was 4 968 000 seasonally adjusted and shows a positive trend for both sexes. The trend for women is weaker than for men. The labour force rate, which is the labour force share of the population, was 70.7 percent. The trend for women shows an unchanged level while the men continue to show a positive trend. Among men and women the shares were 74.0 and 67.5 percent respectively.
Changes compared to July 2009 – Originaldata1
Increase in the number of temporarily employed
The positive development on the labour market shown during the spring 2010 has continued. For the second month in a row the number of employed and hours worked increased compared to the same month last year. The rise in July this year is a recovery of the decline that occurred in July 2009 compared to July 2008.
In July 2010 the number of employed persons aged 15-74 increased by 98 000 compared to July 2009 and amounted to 4 744 000. The increase was mainly concentrated to men. Employed persons aged 15-24 increased by 46 000 or 7.7 percent, and employed persons aged 25-54 increased by 60 000 or 1.9 percent.
The rise in the number of employed persons had an effect on the employment rate which rose by 0.8 percent point units and equalled 67.6 percent for persons aged 15-74. Among the employed, 2 393 000 were at work, which is an increase of 155 000 persons compared to July 2009.
The number of permanent employed amounted to 3 418 000 in July 2010. Compared to July 2009 this is no statistically significant change. The number of persons with temporarily employment increased by 73 000, of whom 40 000 were aged 15-24. This is a statistically significant change and can be seen as a recovery from the decrease of temporarily employed people aged 15-24, that was observed in July 2009.
Number of hours worked increased
The number of worked hours was on average 88.5 million per week. When adjusted for calendar differences between 2009 and 2010, this is an increase by 7.0 percent. The increase can partly be explained by an increase of persons at work and persons who are full-time employed.
No rise in unemployment
The number of unemployed persons in July 2010 amounted 415 000. This is no statistically significant change compared to the same month in 2009. Of the unemployed, 217 000 were men, and 197 000 were women. One third of the unemployed, 138 000 persons, were long-term unemployed. Among the unemployed 49 000 persons or 12 percent were full-time students either within regular education or participating in employment measures.
The unemployment rate, that is the share of the labour force that is unemployed, equalled 8.0 percent in July 2010. Among men the unemployment rate equalled 8.0 and among women 8.1 percent. These are no statistically significant changes compared to July 2009.
The number of unemployed persons aged 15-24, amounted to 157 000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 19.7 percent. Of the unemployed young people, 15 000 were full-time students.
Persons not in the labour force
Compared to July 2009 the number of persons not in the labour force dropped by 50 000 and amounted to 1 863 000. Within the group, the number of persons outside the workforce due to sickness dropped by 69 000 persons, while the number of pensioners increased by 53 000.
Labour supply not utilised
Unemployed, underemployed and persons who are potentially looking for a job form the labour supply that is not utilised. In July the labour supply not utilised amounted 22.0 million hours per week, or 550 000 full-time jobs (a full-time job representing a 40 hour week). This is a decrease of 42 500 full-time jobs compared to July 2009.
1 Seasonally adjusted data and calculated trend can be a little revised at new monthly outcomes and coincides usually not, due to explainable reasons, with original data.