In November last year 8,710 unemployed immigrants were registered in Norway. This is a decline of 1,908 persons compared to November 1996. The number of persons registered as unemployed went down for all immigrant groups.
Registered unemployment among immigrants fell from 10.7 per cent in November 1996 to 8.1 per cent in November 1997. In comparison, registered unemployment in the general population dropped from 3.5 to 2.5 per cent in the same period. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa had the largest decline in joblessness.
Although the number of registered unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force showed a pronounced decline among non-Western immigrants, their unemployment rate in November 1997 was still four times the rate of Western immigrants. Unemployment was also nearly five times as high as for all residents.
The number of immigrants enrolled in ordinary public job creation programmes went down by 1,139 persons from November 1996 to November 1997, with the largest declines seen among South and Central Americans, East Europeans and Africans.
Weekly Bulletin issue no. 8, 1998