The unemployment rate in Finland stood at 6.5% in July, down from 7.5% in the same period last year, according to data from Statistics Finland. At the same time, the employment rate rose to 74.1%, up from 72.0% in the same period last year.

Overall, In July 2018, the number of employed persons was 2.63 million, (margin of error ±33,000), which was 75,000 more than a year earlier. There were 21,000 more employed men and 54,000 more employed women than in July 2017.

The employment rate for men stood at 75.4%, up by 0.8% from last year. The employment rate for women stood at 72.8%, up by 3.4% when compared to last year.

Statistics Finland also showed that there were 183,000 unemployed in July 2018 (margin of error ±18,000), which comes to 24,000 fewer than in July of the year before. The number of unemployed men was 95,000 and that of women 88,000.

In the same period, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, stood at 9.4%, which was 2.2% lower compared to the same period last year.

Figures from Statistics Finland also found that the during the second quarter of 2018, the number of open job vacancies was 49,500, up from 36,800 one year before. The number of open job vacancies grew in most industries.