Job vacancies pick up

After adjustment for seasonal effects, 126 thousand jobs were vacant at the end of September 2010, 11 thousand more than at the end of June. In the private sector the number of vacancies increased by 12 thousand.

The vacancy rate, i.e. the number of vacancies per one thousand jobs is an indicator for the tightness of the labour market. The vacancy rate was 16 in the third quarter. It has been at this level for the last one and a half years. Compared with one year previously, the vacancy rate increased by most in the information and communication sector and in the manufacturing industry.

The labour market was more dynamic than one year previously. In the third quarter of this year, 197 thousand new vacancies were created, 14 thousand more than twelve months previously. The number of filled vacancies also rose; 198 thousand job vacancies were filled, compared with 195 thousand in the same period of 2009.

Job vacancies, seasonally adjusted