The number of 16–74 year olds in the labour force in the 3rd quarter of 2018 was 206,700 corresponding to an activity rate of 82.4%. The number of employed persons was 202,200 while unemployed persons were 4,500. The employment rate was 80.6% and the unemployment rate 2.2%. The number of unemployed females was 2,200 corresponding to 2.3% unemployment rate and 2,300 males were unemployed or 2.0% unemployment rate. The number of employed persons has increased by 7,900 from the 3rd quarter of 2017 and increase in the employment rate by 0.4 percentage points. At the same time the number of unemployed increased slightly or by 200 but the unemployment rate stayed unchanged.
Persons are classified as unemployed when they have no employment, are actively seeking a job and could start working within two weeks or have found a job which starts within three months. Students who are not employed and fulfil this criteria are considered unemployed. People are classified as working (employed) if they worked one hour or more in the reference week or were absent from work they usually carry out.
Average working hours
In the 3rd quarter of 2018 the average number of persons at work in the reference week was 167,400, or 66.7% of the population 16–74 years old and 82.8% of all in employment. The average number of working hours for those at work was 41.1 hours, 45.3 hours for full-time employed and 25.0 hours for part-time employed.