Unchanged proportion of unemployed in September

The figures from Nav show that the number of unemployed people in Norway has been roughly stagnant since August.

– There was a moderate increase in unemployment in September. At the same time, there is still a great demand for labour. We still expect that unemployment will continue to increase in the future. This is mainly due to the fact that more Ukrainians are registering with Nav to get assistance in getting a job, says director of employment and welfare Hans Christian Holte in a press release.

The increase in the number of completely unemployed and jobseekers on measures so far in September is 1,400 people. The increase comes after a decrease of 500 people in August.

A total of 73,600 people fell under both categories at the end of September. This amounts to 2.5 per cent of the workforce.

In addition, 21,500 are partially unemployed. This means that there are now 95,100 registered jobseekers with Nav. This amounts to 3.2 per cent of the workforce.

Half have an immigrant background

People with an immigrant background make up half of the unemployed. Compared to September last year, there are 7,700 more people with an immigrant background, while the number without has increased by 2,700.

Ukrainians make up by far the largest group.

– As the Ukrainian refugees begin to establish themselves in Norway and complete the introduction programme, more of them contact Nav to get help finding a job, and thus both the workforce, employment and unemployment go up. So this development is as expected, emphasizes Holte.

The government expects more Ukrainians in work in the coming time, says Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap).

– We must make demands and stand up. Since January, the proportion of Ukrainians in work has increased from 16 to 27 percentage points. We are on the right track. But I expect that even more people will come to work in the future.

Strong demand for labour

There is still a good trend in the job market in several industries. Demand is high and so far, 39,000 new vacancies have been registered on svågvägsten.no in September, which is 15 per cent more than last year.

– The labor market is still good, and the demand for labor is high. Which means that the conditions are well suited for an even greater labor market integration of immigrants, including Ukrainians, says Holte.

Nevertheless, several people became unemployed in September. The relative increase was greatest in Vestfold with 4 per cent, Nordland and Møre og Romsdal followed with 3 per cent.

Gross unemployment is highest in Østfold, with 3.4 per cent of the workforce. Troms has the lowest unemployment rate, with 1.7 per cent of the workforce.