Norway’s jobless rate remains stable in September

Norway’s Labor Force Survey (LFS) showed that the total number of unemployed persons in a seasonally adjusted basis totalled 135,000 in September, stated Statistics Norway. This corresponds to a jobless rate of 4.8 percent, nearly unchanged from 4.9 percent seen in the prior month. The increase of 1000 unemployed persons from June is quite within the LFS error margin. In comparison, the number of people unemployed or on government initiatives to promote employment with the Labor and Welfare Administration stayed the same in the same period, said Statistics Norway.

According to LFS, seasonally-adjusted unemployment has gradually increased from May 2014 to the autumn of 2015. In the past year (September 2015 – September 2016), changes in the figure of unemployed persons have mainly been within the LFS error margin, and the level fluctuated between 4.5 and 5 percent of the labor force.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted figure of employed persons from June to September increased 17,000. However, this change is within the LFS error margin. In the past year, there have been quite small changes in the number of employed persons. Within the same period, the population aged 15-74 years has increased and thus the rate of employment has dropped to 67.6 percent in September 2016 from 67.8 percent.