The number of job vacancies increased by 3.6 per cent from the 4th quarter of 2015 to the 4th quarter of 2016.
There was an increase in oil and gas, but from a very low level. Other industries with an increase in job vacancies include construction, as well as information and communication. There was a decrease in domestic trade.
In the 4th quarter of 2016, there were 49 000 job vacancies, which is an increase of 1 700 from the same quarter the previous year.
The percentage of job vacancies was 1.7 per cent, up from 1.6 in the 4th quarter of 2015.
The job vacancy rate is measured as a percentage of the total number of jobs, i.e. the number of employees and vacancies.
In mining and quarrying – an industry dominated by the production of oil and gas – there was a large increase from the previous year.
There were 600 job vacancies in this industry in the 4th quarter of 2016, compared with 200 the previous year.
Compared with the figures for the 4th quarter in the years 2010-2013, the figure for 2015 was very low. For instance, the number of job vacancies was 2 200 in the 4th quarter of 2011.
Increase in construction
Construction had an increase of 65 per cent form the 4th quarter of 2015 to the same quarter of 2016 – from 2 300 to 3 800 job vacancies.
There was an increase of 50 per cent in information and communication in the same period, to 3 000 job vacancies. This corresponds to 3.3 per cent of the total number of jobs in that industry.
Decrease in domestic trade
The largest decrease in vacancies from the 4th quarter of 2015 to the same quarter of 2016 was in domestic trade, with a decrease of 26 per cent. The total number of vacancies in the 4th quarter of 2016 was 4 000, compared with 5 400 in 2015.
Source: SSB / Norway Today
