Pirkanmaa Accounts for Over a Quarter of Finland’s Unemployment Rise

Aamulehti reports that Pirkanmaa recorded 34,240 unemployed jobseekers in May, a year-on-year rise of 4,605 people – more than a quarter of the national increase. The region’s unemployment rate was 12.7 percent in May. Tampere drove much of the rise: the number of unemployed in the city grew by 3,149, pushing the city’s unemployment rate to 15.3 percent. Among municipalities, Urjala had the highest rate at 15.7 percent and Pälkäne the lowest at 7.0 percent.

Long-term unemployment also climbed. In Pirkanmaa, 13,894 people had been unemployed for over a year, up by 2,835 from last May, and structural unemployment made up about 61 percent of all unemployed. Juha Salminen, a forecasting specialist at the Centre for Regional Development of Inland Finland, said the region’s increase accounted for more than a quarter of the country’s year-on-year growth in unemployed jobseekers. The national unemployment rate was 12.1 percent in May. The rise follows a March increase when Tampere’s unemployment rate rose and Pirkanmaa recorded a notable year-on-year jump in jobseekers.

The article also noted a sharp rise in jobseekers registered as disabled or long-term sick: that group grew by almost 2,000 year-on-year, reaching 5,349 in May, up from 3,448 a year earlier, according to Yle. Yle also reports that cooperation negotiations at Sisä-Suomen elinvoimakeskus (the Regional Centre for Inner Finland, covering Pirkanmaa and Kanta‑Häme) ended without agreement and that around five employees will be dismissed; the centre had earlier warned that up to 16 jobs could be at risk. The wider layoffs are linked to savings under a state productivity programme.

Tampere employment services director Sari Oksanen links part of the change to administrative and labour-market shifts. She says that in February a tightening of Kela’s basic social assistance rules led to 1,670 people moving into municipal employment services. Oksanen adds that the deterioration partly reflects the long recession and recent layoffs, which have affected people with reduced work ability. Yle also provides context about structural changes that began at the start of 2025, when responsibility for unemployed clients moved from the state to municipalities; Tampere’s employment services now meet clients face-to-face more often than the former TE Offices did, which can result in more medical assessments and doctors’ statements being used to determine registration as long-term sick or disabled.