Registered unemployed among immigrants (discontinued in Statistics Norway), Q1 2013

In absolute numbers, there were 2 430 more immigrants unemployed in February 2013. Despite this growth, the unemployment rate only increased marginally within this group. This is due to a growth in the labour force caused by labour immigration.

Small changes within the immigrant groups

There were no considerable changes in the registered unemployment rate within any of the immigrant groups. Immigrants from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe outside the EU had weak declines, while the other groups had small increases. Immigrants from South and Central-America had the strongest growth, of 0.5 percentage points. In absolute numbers, immigrants from EU countries in Eastern Europe had the strongest increase, of 1 400 unemployed.

Large differences among immigrants

Immigrants from Africa still had the highest unemployment level, at 13.0 per cent. This was followed by immigrants from Asia (7.9 per cent), EU countries in Eastern Europe (7.7 per cent), South and Central-America (7.1 per cent) and Eastern Europe outside the EU (6.7 per cent). The remaining groups had considerably lower rates, as is normally the case. Immigrants from Western Europe had a rate of 3.2 per cent, while immigrants from Nordic countries and North America and Oceania had rates of 2.6 and 2.4 per cent respectively.

The high level of unemployment among African immigrants is partly due to the dominance of refugees within this group. They have had the highest registered unemployment rate for several years irrespective of the economic cycles.

Decline among participants on labour market schemes

Measured as a percentage of the immigrant population aged 15-74 years, the rate of participants on ordinary labour market schemes (job programmes) decreased from 1.7 per cent in the 1st quarter of 2012 to 1.5 per cent in the 1st quarter of 2013. In the remaining population, this rate was stable at 0.3 per cent. Immigrants from Africa and Asia had the highest participation rates at 3.0 and 2.0 per cent respectively.

A total of 8 162 immigrants were participants on labour market schemes. In total, 18 403 people participated in the 1st quarter of 2013. Immigrants therefore constituted ca. 44 per cent of the total participant group. The number of participants declined both among immigrants and in the rest of the population.

Lower unemployment among Norwegian-born to immigrant parents than immigrants

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents is still a rather small group of unemployed. This group constituted 885 registered unemployed in February 2013. The majority within this group are aged 15-29 years, and the unemployment rate among them was 5.0 per cent, which was 2.9 percentage points below the immigrant group at the same age (at 7.9 per cent) and 1.5 percentage points higher than the corresponding age group in the rest of the population (at 3.5 per cent).

Among immigrants between 15 and 29 years of age, the unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points from the 1st quarter of 2012, while there was a small decline of 0.1 percentage points within the other two groups at the same age.