Unemployment in Norway hits highest level since pandemic
The rise was most significant among young people under the age of 25.
"We also see this month that it is among young people that unemployment has increased the most," Tonje Køber, section manager at Statistics Norway, said in a
press release
.
"There are 7,000 more unemployed people under the age of 25 in May than there were in November," Køber added.
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Køber said that the rise in youth unemployment reflected the large number of young people who have recently entered the labour force, rather than a decline in the number of jobs for young people on offer.
"The increase among the youngest is related to an increased supply of labour from this group. This means that more people are getting jobs, and more people are looking for jobs," she said.
There were also slightly fewer jobs in Norway in May, with the number of working positions reduced by 5,900 compared to April, of which 3,600 were in public administration and education.
However, taking a slightly longer perspective, the number of jobs has increased slightly over the past six months.
Seasonally adjusted preliminary figures showed that there were 12,600 more jobs in Norway in May than there were last November, a growth rate of 0.4 percent.
There were 3,000 more jobs in health, social services, and industry, and about 2,000 fewer jobs in both construction and education.
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