Unemployment rate (Eurostat) in Finland

Finland's unemployment rate is the share of jobless people in the labour force. Published by Statistics Finland from its Labour Force Survey, it is the main gauge of the health of the Finnish labour market.

Derived from Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey of a sample of households, on ILO criteria: someone without a job, available for work and actively seeking is counted as unemployed. A monthly rate is released, with a seasonally adjusted version.

A strong labour market supports household consumption and income and is a key input for Finnish fiscal policy and, within the euro area, for the ECB's read on the bloc. A rising rate signals weaker activity.

It is worth distinguishing whether the rate moves because of labour demand or shifts in the labour force. Being survey-based, it is subject to sampling error, is volatile month to month and can differ from the registered jobless count published by the Ministry of Employment.