Registered unemployed among immigrants (discontinued in Statistics Norway), Q1 2011

For the first time since the 3rd quarter of 2008 we are now observing a lower unemployment rate compared to the corresponding quarter the year before, among immigrants as well as the whole population. With regard to the number of registered unemployed, there is still an increase among immigrants, of 1 650. However, when the unemployment rate within this group declines slightly, this means that the number employed has increased. The growth among labour immigrants is one of the main factors behind this development.

Strongest decrease among EU immigrants

Immigrants from the EU countries (both in Western and Eastern Europe) had the strongest decrease in the unemployment rate, of 0.5 percentage points within each group. There was otherwise a weak decline below 0.5 percentage points among the other groups, except the Asian group, which still had a slight growth, of 0.4 percentage points.

As far as the unemployment rates within the immigrant groups are concerned, immigrants from Africa still had the highest level in the first quarter of 2011, at 13.4 per cent. Then came immigrants from the EU countries in Eastern Europe with an unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent. The group from Asia had a rate of 8.8 per cent, while immigrants from Latin America had 7.8 and those from Eastern Europe outside the EU were close to this level with an unemployment rate of 7.5 per cent. As usual, there is a gap to the groups from the Nordic countries and Western Europe, which have considerably lower unemployment rates; 3.0 and 3.7 per cent respectively.

The high level of unemployment among Africans is partly due to the dominance of refugees within this group. African immigrants have for several years had the highest registered unemployment rate irrespective of the economic cycles. With regard to the immigrants from the EU countries in Eastern Europe, their unemployment rate is caused by the declining economic cycles and the loss of jobs that many labour immigrants within the construction industry and some manufacturing industries experienced in 2009. However, the activity within these industries is now increasing, and the unemployment rate is therefore falling slightly.

Decrease among men only

Immigrant men had a decline of 0.6 percentage points, while immigrant women experienced some growth in the unemployment rate of 0.5 percentage points. When looking at the increase in the number of unemployed, this took place mainly among women. We can also observe the same tendency in the rest of the population; a decline of 0.4 percentage points among men and a slight increase of 0.1 among the women. Only women had a growth in the absolute number of registered unemployed. Among men this number declined. This tendency is due to the unemployment decrease in the male dominated occupations within construction and manufacturing, while there is some growth in the female dominated occupations in the public sector. However, men still had the highest level of unemployment, among immigrants as well as the rest of the population.

Only marginal growth among Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents is still a rather small group of unemployed. This group constituted 856 registered unemployed in February 2011. The majority within this group are aged 15-29 years, and the unemployment rate among them was 5.6 per cent, which was 1.4 percentage points higher than the corresponding age group in the majority population (at 4.2 per cent), but 2.9 percentage points below the immigrant group at the same age (at 8.5 per cent). Among these three young population groups, the majority and the immigrants had a decline of 0.2 percentage points each, while the Norwegian-born to immigrant parents experienced a marginal growth of 0.1 percentage point.

Weak growth among unemployed not registered as residents

A total of 1 932 of the unemployed were not registered as residents in Norway in the first quarter of 2011. Of these non-residents, 1 032 were citizens from the EU countries in Eastern Europe and 400 were from the Nordic countries. The group of unemployed non-residents has expanded by 106 people since the first quarter of 2010, when it constituted 1 826 people. This constitutes a growth of 6 per cent, which is considerably weaker compared to the previous quarters. As much as 85 per cent of the non-residents in the first quarter of 2011 were men.

Continued decrease among participants on labour market schemes

The number of immigrants on ordinary labour market schemes (job programmes) decreased from 8 250 in February 2010 to 6 548 in February 2011; a decline of 20 per cent. Among non-immigrants, the number of participants decreased from 13 572 to 9 700 participants; a decline of 28 per cent. The number of participants on labour market schemes has declined since the 3rd quarter of 2010, among immigrants as well as the whole population.

Tables:

• Table 1 Registered unemployed, by immigrant background, region of birth and sex. In absolute figures and in per cent of the labour force. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 2 Participants on ordinary labour market schemes (job programmes), by immigrant background, region of birth and sex. Absolute numbers and in per cent of persons aged 15 to 74 years. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 3 Registered unemployed, by region of birth and time of residence in Norway. By the end of February 2010 and 2011. Absolute figures and in per cent of persons in total aged 15-74 years
• Table 4 Registered unemployed, by immigrant background, region of birth and county of residence. Absolute numbers and in per cent of persons aged 15 to 74 years in each group. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 5 Participants on ordinary labour market schemes (job-programmes), by immigrant background, region of birth and county of residence. Absolute numbers and in per cent of persons aged 15 to 74 years in each group. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 6 Registered unemployed, by sex, immigrant background, region of birth and age. Absolute numbers and in per cent of the labour force. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 7 Unemployed persons not registered as resident, by region of birth and sex. By the end of February 2010 and 2011
• Table 8 Unemployed persons not registered as resident, by region of birth and age. By the end of February 2010 and 2011