Registered unemployed among immigrants (discontinued in Statistics Norway), Q1 2000

The immigrants from Africa had the highest registered unemployment rate, with 14,5 per cent at the end of February, followed by the immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia, with an unemployment rate respecively of 11,1 and 10,2 per cent. First generation immigrants from South and Central America had the highest increase from 7,3 per cent to 8,3 per cent. There has also been a clear increase among the immigrants from Western Europe (except the Nordic countries), from 2,9 per cent to 3,6 per cent.

The registered unemployment rate for male immigrants was 8,7 per cent in February this year, while the unemployment rate for female immigrants was 6,2 per cent. For the whole country these figures were respecively 3,2 per cent and 2,4 per cent.

The increase in unemployment has mainly occured among men. From February 1999 to February this year the unemploment rate increased from 2,8 per cent to 3,2 per cent at national level and from 7,7 per cent to 8,7 percent among 1. generation immigrants. Among women there has been stabilty in the unemployment rate at both levels (though we find a little variation in some groups of immigrants).

The number of persons covered by ordinary labour market schemes (job programmes) showed only a marginal decrease from February 1999 to 2000 both at national level and among immigrants. At the end of February this year, 3 571 immigrants were enrolled in public sector job creation programmes. They accounted for 28,0 per cent of all persons covered by such schemes. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa had the highest percentages of participants in such labour market schemes, with respectively 3,4 per cent and 2,7 per cent