Finland's unemployment rate stays among EU's highest in September

HELSINKI (Reuters) -Unemployment in euro zone member Finland stabilised at 9.9% in September, statistics office data showed on Tuesday, as the Nordic country battles one of the highest jobless rates in the European Union.

The Finnish economy has been hit hard by global economic turmoil and uncertainty stemming from the war in Ukraine, while its government's austerity measures and spending cuts to contain public deficits have dented growth and led to layoffs.

August unemployment was originally reported at 10.0% but was revised down on Tuesday to 9.9%, in line with the September figure and staying at its highest level in at least 15 years, Statistics Finland said.

The unadjusted unemployment rate for the third quarter meanwhile dropped to 9.2% from 10.2% the previous quarter but was above the 7.8% recorded in the same quarter last year, the Statistics Finland data showed.

For the second quarter in the euro zone only Spain had a higher unemployment rate than Finland.

In Spain, the number of people registered as jobless fell slightly in September, an unusual trend as it normally increases after the busy summer tourism season, suggesting unemployment may have kept falling in the third quarter as a whole.

The monthly unemployment data for persons aged 15 to 74 was adjusted for seasonal and random variations, Statistics Finland said.

Danske Bank's senior economist Ozan Yanar said the rise in Finnish unemployment was partially explained by higher participation in the labour force, with previously retired men in particular returning to the labour market to look for work.

"The increased participation of older people in the labour market may be explained by the prolonged cost‑of‑living crisis," he said.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki, additional reporting by Emma Gonzalez Pinedo in Madrid; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Hugh Lawson)