At A-kassa, the number of earnings-related allowance recipients increased by 16% from October to November. The upwards trend in unemployment that began in October continues, and the share of laid-off persons among the recipients is also clearly on the rise.
Number of earnings-related allowance recipients up in November
In November, 25,945 members received earnings-related allowance from A-kassa, up 16% from October and 3.7% from March 2023. While the numbers typically begin to trend up as summer and seasonal work ends, this year the numbers took an upward turn in October and are now trending similarly to last year.
In November, 10.7% of all members received earnings-related allowance, up 1.5 percentage points from October. Of the recipients, 76% were men and 24% women. In October, the general unemployment rate in Finland stood at 8.2%. Over the last few months, the general unemployment rate has been about one percentage point higher than last year.
Variation in recipient numbers between industries
The recipient numbers trend quite differently between major A-kassa member industries. Among industry workers in November, the number of recipients increased 7.4% from last year, even though the situation in October was still better than the year before. Overall, the increase in the number of recipients has slowed down significantly over the course of the year. In the spring, the numbers were 30% to 50% higher than in 2023.
In the construction industry, the number of recipients has levelled out during the autumn. In November, the numbers were a mere 0.9% higher than last year. Early in the year and in the spring, the construction industry similarly saw significant increase, with the numbers likewise 30% to 50% higher than in 2023. Now, the number of recipients is nearly equal to last year’s.
In the transport industry, however, the number of recipients decreased in November, continuing the downward trend that began in October. In November, the number of recipients was down 9.2% from November 2023. Early in the year and in the spring, the numbers increased in the industry. The number of recipients was 5% to 20% higher than in 2023. Over the course of the autumn, however, the upward trend turned downward, dropping below last year’s November numbers.
Share of lay-off period daily allowance recipients trending up
Out of all recipients of earnings-related allowance, 37.7% received lay-off period daily allowance in November, up markedly from September’s 29.1% and October’s 31.8%. Looking at last year, the share of lay-off period daily allowance recipients increased heavily late in the year and remained high in early 2024, at around 43%. It remains to be seen whether the same development repeats this winter.
Daily allowance payouts also up
November’s earnings-related allowance payments totalled 34.4 million euros, up 8.2% from October and up 1.8% from November 2023. In November, the average number of payout days stood at 18.2 days, slightly down from October and similar to November 2023. However, the average earnings-related allowance payment is down from last year, standing at 73.11 €/day compared to last year’s 75.45 €/day.
Very little change in number of applications received
We received a total of 30,865 applications for earnings-related allowance in November, a mere 0.5% up from October. Compared to November last year, we received 4.7% less applications. The majority the applications, 57.8%, were follow-up applications, while applications for adjusted allowance made up 35.7% and first-time applications made up 6.5% of all applications received.
Monthly statistical summaries are available at the A-kassa website
