In December 2016, the number of employed persons aged 15-74 amounted to 4 893 000, not seasonally adjusted. This was an increase of 72 000 compared with December 2015, of whom 39 000 were men. The number of employed men amounted to 2 547 000, while the number of employed women amounted to 2 346 000. The employment rate was 66.4 percent; among men it was 68.1 percent and among women it was 64.7 percent. Smoothed and seasonally adjusted data shows an increase both in the number of employed persons and in the employment rate. The number of employed persons was 4 943 000, which corresponds to an employment rate of 67.2 percent.

The number of employees aged 15-74 in December amounted to 4 397 000, not seasonally adjusted. This was an increase of 66 000, of whom 39 000 were women, compared with December 2015. The number of permanent employees in the same period amounted to 3 701 000. Compared with December 2015, this was an increase of 99 000, of whom 50 000 were men and 49 000 were women. The number of temporary employees amounted to 696 000. Compared with nearby months, smoothed and seasonally adjusted data shows an increase both in the number of permanent and temporary employees.

On average, the number of hours worked in December 2016 amounted to 144.6 million per week, not seasonally adjusted. When the difference in holidays was taken into account, there was an increase of 1.6 percent compared with December 2015. Smoothed and seasonally adjusted data shows small changes in the number of hours worked per week. In December 2016, smoothed and seasonally adjusted data amounted to 150.2 million hours worked per week.

In December 2016, the number of unemployed persons aged 15-74 amounted to 337 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent. The number of unemployed men amounted to 192 000 and the number of unemployed women amounted to 145 000. The unemployment rate among men was 7.0 percent and among women 5.8 percent. The number of unemployed young people aged 15-24 was 92 000, of whom 51 000 were full time students. The unemployment rate among young people was 16.4 percent. Among people aged 15-74, smoothed and seasonally adjusted data shows small changes in both the number of unemployed persons and in the unemployment rate. The number of unemployed persons amounted to 365 000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent. The unemployment rate was 7.2 percent among men and 6.5 percent among women. Among young people aged 15-24, both the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate continued to decrease, but at a lower rate than in nearby months. The number of young people who were unemployed was 115 000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent.

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