Unemployment among foreign nationals is declining, but recovery from the pandemic is slow

According to the Employment Bulletin of May 2021 by the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration, the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers has decreased compared to the previous month. A decrease can also be observed as compared to the corresponding figure a year ago, when the number of unemployed jobseekers was high due to the pandemic.

Yet the figures in the April 2021 Employment Bulletin should be interpreted with caution, seen that the benchmark month was, in terms of unemployment, one of the most difficult months during the pandemic.

The figures in the April Bulletin show that

• In April 2021, foreign unemployed jobseekers numbered 34,806, and there were 47,975 unemployed jobseekers who do not have one of Finland’s national languages as their native language. Compared to March, the number of foreign unemployed jobseekers and those with a foreign-language background diminished by roughly 2%, while the number of unemployed native Finnish jobseekers fell by about 4%.
• Compared to April of the previous year, the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers decreased by 14% and that of unemployed foreign-language jobseekers by 12%. The decrease, nevertheless, was clearly smaller than in the case of unemployed Finnish jobseekers (-28%). The difference is probably largely explained by the slow decline in the number of unemployed jobseekers in Uusimaa, Finland’s most populous region.
• Compared to April 2020, unemployment declined among Chinese, British, Thai and Vietnamese nationals in particular. By contrast, unemployment among Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan and Somali nationals increased from the previous year.
• The number of foreign unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age has fallen significantly (-26%). There has not been a significant change in the number of foreign unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age (-3%).
• Long-term unemployment among foreign nationals has increased by as much as 101% per year.

On the basis of the register data of the employment service statistics, the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration publishes a monthly review of the employment situation of foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and of their participation in employment promotion services.

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

Read more: 
Employment Bulletins (in Finnish)