Nav: 1,900 fewer unemployed in May

Anniken Haugli Conservatives Labour fewer unemployedMinister Anniken Haugli (Conservatives), Photo: hoyre.no

Nav: 1,900 fewer unemployed in May

The proportion of totally unemployed has fallen from 2.9 to 2.6 per cent in the last twelve months. In May alone there were 1,900 fewer unemployed in Norway, according to Nav.

 

– The labour market trend has been positive over the past six months, and in May we had a marked decline in the number of unemployed. Several vacancies and fewer notifications of terminations and layoffs mean we expect unemployment to go further down, says Sigrun Vågeng, Director for Labour and Welfare.

In May, 70,900 unemployed were registered with Nav, a decline of 9,400 compared with May last year. The proportion of unemployed is now 2.6 per cent of the workforce, down from 2.9 per cent in May last year.

A total of 93,100 people were registered as fully unemployed or jobseekers who participated in measures at Nav. It is 6,000 less than one year ago, equivalent to 3.3 percent of the workforce, down from 3.6 percent last year.

Differs from Statistics Norway (SSB) figures

– Over the past year, we see a decline in all of the country’s counties, also in oil counties in the South West. Government policy works: Unemployment is going down, and the economic growth picks up, says Labor and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie (Conservatives).

By the end of May, 8,300 people were registered with job search duration of less than four weeks. This is 1,200 fewer than in May last year, and shows that there are far fewer new that sign up as seekers now.

At the end of May there were 49,400 unemployed who had been job-seekers for less than one year. That is 10,100 fewer than at the same time last year.

– Unemployment is now back at the same level as before the oil price drop in the autumn of 2014, says Hauglie.

Figures and developments, however, differ from the latest figures Statistics Norway (SSB) published from the Labour Market Survey a week ago.

The average seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in December-March increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.5 percent.

SSB numbers include several additional groups and is based on those who consider themselves unemployed.

Warns against defusing the situation

The economists Kyrre Aamdal and Jeanette Strøm Fjære in DNB Markets also point out in a brief comment that LFS does not support the conclusion that Nav’s numbers is a basis for increased capacity utilization in the labour market.

General Secretary of the labour union Tekna, Ivar Horneland Kristensen, warns against de-dramatizing the situation in the labour market. Unemployment is still higher than in the financial crisis years from 2011 to 2013. Tekna organizes 72,000 civil engineers and technologists

– It is important that efforts to bring down the unemployment rate does not stop. The Finance Minister has gone a long way to defuse the situation. There is no reason to. Unemployment is still higher than during the financial crisis, says Horneland.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today