Employee statistics for immigrants, 2nd half-year 2000

Among the other groups of immigrants only marginal changes has been registered in the employee rate last year. The immigrants from Eastern Europe were at the same time the only group of immigrants with a decrease in the registered unemployment rate.

Immigrants from the Nordic countries and Western Europe had the highest employee rates of 62.3 and 57.0 per cent respectively, while the immigrants from Africa and North America and Oceania had the lowest rates, 41.8 and 44.2 per cent respectively. The number of registered unemployment reveals, however, that the immigrants from North America and Oceania have a low unemployment rate as opposed to the immigrants from Africa who have the highest level of unemployment.

In total the immigrants with the shortest time of residence in Norway (4 years and less) had the lowest employee rate, 41.0 per cent, while those who have been residents for a longer period had an employee rate of 54.0 per cent. In the nonwestern groups of immigrants this marked growth occurs after seven years of residence. The employee rate among Asian immigrants with 7 years of residence and above were for instance twice as high as the rate among those with the shortest time of residence (4 years and less), 27.1 per cent as opposed to 51.9 per cent.

In the entire population men had an employee rate of 63.3 per cent, while this rate among women was 58.9 per cent. Among immigrants these numbers were 54.7 per cent and 47.1 per cent respectively.

Immigrants from Western Europe and Africa had the largest differences in employee rates between men and women. In both groups there was a difference of 13.4 percentage points in men's favour.