Job vacancies, Q4 2014

Despite the moderate increase in the number of job vacancies from the 4th quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014, the job vacancy rate remained unchanged at 2.0 per cent. This is related to an increase in the number of employees in the same period. The percentage of job vacancies is measured as a percentage of the total number of jobs, i.e. the number of employees and vacancies.

Increase in human health and residential care

The increase in job vacancies took place in some of the service industries. The strongest increase was in residential care activities, with a growth of 2 000 job vacancies from the 4th quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014. In human health activities, there was an increase of 1 900 job vacancies in this period. The job vacancy rates of these two industries increased by 1.0 and 0.9 percentage points respectively. The number of job vacancies in administrative and support service activities increased by 1 400 from the 4th quarter of 2013 to the 4th quarter of 2014 – corresponding to a growth in the job vacancy rate of 0.7 percentage points.

A few service industries had a decrease in the number of job vacancies from the 4th quarter of 2013 to the 4th quarter of 2014. In professional, scientific and technical activities, the number of job vacancies decreased by 800; a drop of 0.6 percentage points. There was also a decrease in domestic trade – by 700, which corresponds to 0.2 percentage points.

Decrease in oil and gas

In mining and quarrying – an industry dominated by the production of oil and gas – the number of job vacancies decreased by 500 from the 4th quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014. This corresponded to a decrease in the job vacancy rate of 0.8 percentage points. There was also a decrease in manufacturing during this period; down 600, which corresponds to 0.3 percentage points.

Job vacancy growth in the EU

The job vacancy rate in the EU was 1.6 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2014, up 0.2 percentage points from the same quarter the previous year. The comparison with other countries is based on the 3rd quarter of 2014 as the figures for the 4th quarter have not yet been published. In addition, agriculture, forestry and fishing are excluded.

The job vacancy rates between countries in the EEA vary considerably. In the 3rd quarter of 2014, the job vacancy rate was 0.4 in Cyprus and 0.6 in Spain. At the same time, the job vacancy rate was 2.7 per cent in Germany and 2.4 in both Belgium and the United Kingdom. By comparison, Norway had a job vacancy rate of 2.1 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2014.