Unemployment at 4.5 per cent

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Adjusted for seasonal variations, there were 124 000 unemployed persons in March.

From December (average of November-January) 2016 to March (average of February-April) 2017, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment increased by 0.1 percentage points, or 2 000 persons.

This change is clearly within the Labour Force Survey (LFS) margin of error.

As shown in figure 1, the unemployment increased in 2015 to a peak of 4.9 per cent in the middle of 2016. After that, the unemployment has decreased somewhat.

The increase shown by the most recent figures are clearly within the LFS margin of error.

The number of people registered as unemployed or on government initiatives to promote employment with the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) decreased by 3 000 persons from December (average of November-January) 2016 to March (average of February-April) 2017.

Small changes in the number of employed persons
According to the LFS, the seasonally adjusted number of employed persons increased by 6 000 persons from December (average of November-January) 2016 to March (average of February-April) 2017. This change is within the LFS margin of error.

As shown in figure 3, there have only been small changes in the number of employed persons since the turn of the year 2014/2015. In this period, the population aged 15–74 years has increased.

Therefore, the employment rate has decreased, from 68.5 per cent in January (average of December-February) 2015 to 66.8 per cent in March (average of February-April) 2017.

 

Source: SSB / Norway Today