Labour force participation is increasing fastest among young people

Employment last year increased by 63,000, while joblessness declined by 19,000. Labour force participation grew the most among young people between 16 and 19 years of age from fourth quarter 1996 to fourth quarter 1997.

The percentage of working people in the population (persons aged 16-74) totalled 72.7 per cent in fourth quarter 1997, compared to 71.5 per cent in the same quarter the year before. Labour participation increased by 1.4 percentage points for women and 1.1 for men. Most age groups saw growth in labour force participation, new figures from Statistics Norway's Labour Force Survey show.

The percentage of employed youth aged 16 to 19 increased from 37 to 44 per cent in fourth quarter last year. The percentage is, however, around 10 percentage points lower than it was in the same quarter in 1987, when employment was at its highest. Employment rose in most industries, with the sharpest increase seen in business services, building and construction, and health and social services.

New Statistics

Labour Force Survey, 4th quarter 1997.
Statistics are published every quarter in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. Detailed figures are in the Basic Tables from the Labour Force Survey. For more information, contact: Ole Sandvik, +47 21 09 45 77, e-mail: osa@ssb.no or Inger Håland, tel. +47 21 09 47 80 , e-mail: iha@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 6, 1998