There have been technical problems with the collection of the LFS April, the problems have now been solved. However, this has affected the composition of the non-response, which may have resulted in an underestimation of the number of employed and permanent employees. These estimates should be interpreted with some caution.

Labour force

In April 2026, there were 5 726 000 people aged 15–74 in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 741 000 women in the labour force and the number of men amounted to 2 985 000. The labour force participation rate was 74.9 percent. Among women, the labour force participation rate was 72.8 percent and among men it was 77.0 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 792 000 people in the labour force, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 75.8 percent.

Employment

The number of employed people aged 15-74 amounted to 5 226 000 in April 2026, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 514 000 employed women and the number of employed men was 2 712 000. The employment rate stood at 68.4 percent. The employment rate among women was 66.8 percent and among men it was 70.0 percent.

The number of employed people aged 15–74 amounted to 5 292 000, seasonally adjusted and smoothed. This corresponds to an employment rate of 69.2 percent.

Employees

In April 2026, there were 4 731 000 employees, according to non-seasonally adjusted data. 2 372 000 employees were women and 2 360 000 employees were men. The number of permanent employees decreased by 88 000 compared to the same month last year and amounted to 4 086 000. 2 016 000 women were permanent employees and 2 070 000 men were permanent employees. The number of temporary employees amounted to 645 000. Among women, the number of temporary empolyees was 356 000 and among men it was 289 000.

There were 4 787 000 employees according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, of whom 4 116 000 were permanent employees and 671 000 were temporary employees. Compared to recent months, the number of temporary employees increased.

Hours worked

Total hours worked in April 2026 averaged 155.9 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of hours worked averaged 155.8 million per week.

Unemployment

In April 2026, 500 000 people aged 15–74 were unemployed, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent. 227 000 women were unemployed and 273 000 men were unemployed. The unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent for women and the unemployment rate stood at 9.2 percent for men. The number of people in long-term unemployment (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) amounted to 181 000. Among the long-term unemployment, 80 000 were women and 101 000 were men. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 179 000. The youth unemployment rate stood at 26.5 percent. Among unemployed young people, 141 000 were full-time students.

Compared to recent months, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 decreased to 500 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also decreased, amounting to 8.6 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 173 000. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 24.4 percent.

Unused labour supply

Collectively, unemployed people, underemployed people and latent jobseekers constitute the unused labour supply. In April 2026, the unused labour supply averaged 22.6 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 565 000 full-time jobs with 40-hour working weeks.