Decline in unemployment puts Finnish joblessness at below EU average
EU has total of 19 million unemployed
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During the past decade, Finland and Spain brought up the rear in European Union unemployment statistics.
According to Statistics Finland, the unemployment rate for March was 8.5%, which is lower than the EU average.
According to the most recent figures, the average unemployment rate for the EU countries was about nine percent. Finland's seasonally adjusted jobless rate for March was 8.3%. The EU is estimated to have about 19 million people out of work.
Unemployment is lowest in Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, the UK, and The Netherlands. In those countries the jobless rate is below five percent.
According to Eurostat, the EU has about 19 million jobless people. Unemployment was highest, more than 18%, in Spain, Greece, Slovakia, and Poland. The most rapid proportional decline in unemployment took place in the new EU member states Lithuania, Estonia, Malta, and Slovakia. The sharpest increases were in Cyprus, Portugal, and The Netherlands.
In Finland the number of employed increased by 51,000 from March last year. The employment rate, or the proportion of those aged 15 to 64 who work, was 67.1%, which remains far below the government's goal of 75%.
Statistics Finland researcher Pekka Tossavainen says that March and the whole first quarter of this year showed that good progress was being made in promoting employment.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 27.4.2005 - TODAY |
 Decline in unemployment puts Finnish joblessness at below EU average |
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