Labour force survey, seasonally-adjusted figures, May 2002

The number of unemployed persons, seasonally adjusted, increased by 2 000 from the 1^{s t} to the 2^{n d} quarter 2002. In per cent of the labour force the number of unemployed persons increased by almost 0.1 percentage points, which is within the error margins. Seasonally adjusted figures of registered unemployed persons at the Employment Offices the last year indicate an increasing unemployment.

A total of 2 303 000 persons were employed and 95 000 persons were unemployed in the 2^{n d} quarter of 2002 according to figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), not seasonally adjusted.

Unemployment in the EU and the OECD: 7.6 and 6.9 per cent

While the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Norway was unchanged at 3.8 per cent from February to May 2002, it increased from 7.5 to 7.6 per cent as an average in the EU member countries.

In the same period unemployment rate for the OECD-countries as a whole increased from 6.7 to 6.9 per cent. In May 2002 the unemployment rate was 5.8 in USA, 0.3 percentage point higher than in February. During the same period the unemployment rate fell from 5.2 to 5.1 per cent in Sweden, while it was unchanged at 4.2 per cent in Denmark. This is according to figures from Eurostat and the OECD .

Man-weeks worked

The number of man-weeks worked increased by 19 000 from the 1^{s t} to the 2^{n d} quarter 2002.

Prior to 1996 there was only one survey week each month in the Norwegian LFS. In June in the reference year 1991 the survey week was the first week of the month, where the proportion on holiday is low. The proportion of the population on holiday in June the years after 1995, when all weeks were surveyed, was high compared with June 1991. Due to this June has had too many leave substitutes since 1996. The employment figures for June this year were therefore adjusted downward by 25 900 before seasonal adjustment. June last year the employment figures were pre-adjustment down by
23 600 leave substitutes.

The purpose of adjusting for seasonal variations is to describe the development during the last year and to give figures for change between the last two 3-month periods, cleared for normal seasonal variations. In order to reduce uncertainty, the presented series are three months moving averages of the seasonally adjusted figures. For instance the figure from May is the average of the estimates from April, May and June.

Tables:

• Table 1. Persons aged 16-74 years by labour force status, seasonally adjusted, three-months moving average. 1000