Number of foreign jobseekers much higher than in 2019, but employment rate remains largely unchanged

The number of unemployed foreign jobseekers is higher than it was in July 2019, and their number has fallen at a slower rate than that of Finnish jobseekers. The recovery in employment has been particularly slow in Uusimaa. Seasonal unemployment in summer has affected the figures for July.

The figures in the review for July show that:

• In July, there were 39,296 unemployed foreign jobseekers, which is 8% less than in 2020, but 4% more than in June.
  • However, this increase is primarily driven by seasonal unemployment of foreign nationals, which is at its highest in July. The highest unemployment rate of the year is usually recorded in July. 
  • Nevertheless, the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers has decreased slower than the number of their Finnish counterparts. The subdued speed of recovery indicates that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the labour market have likely been more negative for foreigners than Finnish jobseekers. 
  • However, the increase may also be explained by a number of jobseekers entering the labour market. This is evidenced by the modest change in the employment rate between those born abroad and those born in Finland, as shown by the Labour Force Survey.
• About 57% of all foreign unemployed jobseekers and 66% of foreign long-term unemployed jobseekers resided in Uusimaa. 
  • In other parts of Finland, the employment of foreigners and foreign-language speakers has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic significantly faster than in Uusimaa.
• Among the large groups of nationalities, the number of unemployed jobseekers decreased most among the citizens of China (-26%), Great Britain (-25%) and Thailand (-22%).
• After a few years of rapid rise, the number of foreign nationals in self-motivated studies has started to decline.

Based on the register data of the Employment Service Statistics, the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration publishes a monthly review of employment among foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and of their participation in employment promotion services.

August 2021 overview of unemployment of foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and their participation in employment promotion services (in Finnish)

Read more:
Employment bullentins (in Finnish)