HELSINKI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Finland's unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in September 2026, up from 9.1 percent a year earlier, as the country's labor market continued to struggle despite signs of an economic recovery, official data showed on Tuesday.
According to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey, the number of unemployed people aged 15 to 74 reached 298,000 in September, up 39,000 year-on-year, while the number of employed people fell by 11,000 to 2.578 million.
In particular, youth unemployment worsened, with the jobless rate among those aged 15 to 24 climbing to 22.0 percent, up 5.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
Separate data from Statistics Finland showed that the unemployment rate averaged 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2026, up from 9.2 percent a year earlier, while total hours worked fell by 1.8 percent year-on-year.
Despite signs of economic recovery, improvements in the labor market could take up to a year to materialize, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported on Tuesday.
Petri Malinen, chief economist of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, told Yle that ongoing geopolitical uncertainties were clouding business outlooks and prompting companies to postpone recruitment.
He said cautious consumer spending and a slow recovery in consumption were limiting demand for businesses, leaving them with little incentive to hire additional workers.
Jukka Appelqvist, chief economist of the Finland Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement on Tuesday that the latest figures showed the labor market remains under pressure, with a clear positive turnaround yet to emerge.
"The weakening of the labor market is already behind us, but we are still moving sideways rather than seeing clear growth," Appelqvist said, adding that conditions remained particularly challenging in the private sector.
He also noted that an expansion of the labor force accounted for much of the increase in unemployment.
In its latest economic forecast released in September, the Bank of Finland projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.7 percent in 2026 and 1.6 percent in 2027, with the unemployment rate expected to remain at 10.4 percent this year before easing to 9.8 percent next year. ■
