The outcome of employed and unemployed people for March 2026 should be interpreted with some caution as the distribution of the non-response may have affected the estimates. There may be an underestimation mainly of employed people and some overestimation of the unemployed. In addition, the increase in unemployment between March 2025 and March 2026 may be overestimated. This is due to an unusually low estimate of unemployment in March 2025 and an unusually high in March 2026, especially for young full-time students.

Labour force

In March 2026, there were 5 795 000 people aged 15–74 in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 790 000 women in the labour force, up 74 000. The number of men amounted to 3 005 000. The labour force participation rate was 75.9 percent. Among women, the labour force participation rate was 74.1 percent, up 1.7 percentage points. Among men, it was 77.6 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in both the number and the share of people in the labour force, compared to recent months. There were 5 808 000 people in the labour force, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 76.0 percent.

Employment

The number of employed people aged 15–74 amounted to 5 230 000 in March 2026, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 521 000 employed women and 2 709 000 employed men. The employment rate stood at 68.5 percent. The employment rate among women was 67.0 percent and among men it was 69.9 percent, down 1.5 percentage points.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, 5 304 000 people aged 15–74 were employed and the employment rate was 69.4 percent. This is an increase in both the number and the share of employed people, compared to recent months.

Employees

In March 2026, there were 4 724 000 employees, according to non-seasonally adjusted data. 2 363 000 employees were women and 2 361 000 employees were men. The number of permanent employees amounted to 4 076 000, of which 1 987 000 were women and 2 089 000 were men. The number of temporary employees amounted to 648 000. 376 000 women were temporary employees, an increase of 62 000 people. Among men, the number of temporary employees was 272 000.

The number of employees increased compared to recent months and amounted to 4 799 000 according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. Of these, 4 134 000 were permanent employees and 665 000 were temporary employees. Compared to recent months, the number of temporary employees increased.

Hours worked

Total hours worked in March 2026 averaged 172.3 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of hours worked averaged 156.1 million per week.

Unemployment

In March 2026, 565 000 people aged 15–74 were unemployed, not seasonally adjusted, an increase of 79 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points. 268 000 women were unemployed and 296 000 men were unemployed, up 51 000. The unemployment rate stood at 9.6 percent for women and 9.9 percent for men, up 1.7 percentage points. The number of people in long-term unemployment (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) amounted to 207 000, an increase of 40 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. The number of long-term unemployed was 95 000 women and 113 000 men. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 211 000, an increase of 56 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. The youth unemployment rate stood at 30.1 percent, an increase of 6.5 percentage points. Among unemployed young people, 163 000 were full-time students, an increase of 56 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year.

Compared to recent months, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 decreased to 504 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also decreased, amounting to 8.7 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 174 000. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 24.2 percent.

Unused labour supply

Collectively, unemployed people, underemployed people and latent jobseekers constitute the unused labour supply. In March 2026, the unused labour supply averaged 24.6 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 615 000 full-time jobs with 40-hour working weeks.