HELSINKI, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of unemployed jobseekers in Finland increased sharply in May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment said Wednesday.

According to a ministry statement, a total of 432,700 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the employment and economic development offices at the end of May, soaring by 91 percent year-on-year.

Unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 numbered 56,400, increasing by around 97 percent from the figure of 28,700 in May last year, while the number of unemployed jobseekers aged over 50 was 141,600, up by some 67 percent year-on-year.

At the end of May, the number of long-term unemployed -- those who had been unemployed without interruption for more than a year -- rose by 12 percent to 69,800 from one year ago.

According to data released by Statistics Finland on Wednesday, the employment rate in May was 70.4 percent, while the unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in Finland.

The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the employment and economic development offices' customer register, while the Labor Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling, said the ministry.

According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the country has so far confirmed a total of 7,167 COVID-19 infections and 327 deaths. An estimated 6,600 people have recovered, accounting for over 90 percent of reported cases. Enditem

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