OSLO: Norway’s average annual registered unemployment rate will probably drop to 2.5 percent in 2018 from 2.7 percent in 2017 and fall further to 2.4 percent in 2019, the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) predicted on Thursday. The forecast for 2018 was cut by 0.1 percentage point compared to a predition made in June.
In September, registered unemployment fell to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent in August. NAV also predicted the number of unemployed people, including those on job training, would fall to 85,000 in 2018 and to 83,000 in 2019 from 94,000 in 2017. Below are key forecasts from NAV (in percent, except for registered unemployment, which is measured in the number of people, forecast from June in brackets): 2017 2018 2019 Unemployment 2.7 (2.7) 2.5 (2.6) 2.4 Registered unemployment, average 75,000 (76,000) 70,000 (71,000) 68,000 Reg. unemployed, incl. training 94,000 (91,250) 85,000 (86,250) 83,000 Unemployment, pct of the workforce ** 4.2 (4.4) 3.9 (4.3) 3.7 Employment growth ** 0.4 (0.3) 1.2 (1.3) 1.2 Work force growth ** -0.2 (-0.1) 0.9 (1.3) 0.9 Mainland GDP growth 1.8 (2.1) 2.1 (2.4) 2.4.
