Norway records better than expected labor market figures, jobless rate falls to 3.1 pct in April

Norway released its labor market figure today that came out better than central bank’s projection and overshadowed signs of continued zero growth, noted Nordea Bank. Registered joblessness including labor market measures declined in April by 200 people, as compared with Nordea Bank’s projection of +500 persons. Norway reported unadjusted jobless rate of 3.1%, better than consensus expectations of 3.3% and Nordea Bank’s projection of 3.2%.

April’s data was definitely better than projected. In January, joblessness had peaked and has eased slightly since then. The central bank projects unemployment to rise. In the oil regions of the country, joblessness is growing; however, in the rest of the regions, unemployment is low. This slightly lowers the total unemployment of Norway.

However, the Norges Bank stated that the figures should come out strongly for it to not follow its rate path. This indicates that rates will remain on hold in May and June; however, a reduction is seen for September, said Nordea Bank.