Norway Jobseekers Highest in Nearly 4 Years

The number of people registered as out of work in Norway fell for a second month in a row to a seasonally adjusted 62.6 thousand in January 2026 from a downwardly revised 63.6 thousand in the previous month. This marks the lowest since April 2025, corresponding to 2.1% of the workforce. Unemployment declined for almost half of the occupational groups, with the lowest rate in academic professions, as well as health, nursing and care (0.9% of the workforce) and the highest among construction (3.6%). Regionally, Troms and Nordland recorded the lowest jobless rates, at 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively, while Østfold was the highest at 3.1%. Meanwhile, 56,900 vacancies were advertised in January, equivalent to 1,900 per working day, which is 3% lower than a year ago. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the number of fully unemployed people rose to 68.9 thousand in January from 62.4 thousand in December 2025.

The number of people registered as out of work in Norway fell to a seasonally adjusted 63.8 thousand in December 2025 from a downwardly revised 64.8 thousand in the previous month. This marks the lowest since July, corresponding to 2.1% of the workforce. Unemployment decreased across most occupational groups, with the lowest rate in academic, teaching, and health-related professions (0.9% of the workforce) and the highest among tourism and transport (3%). Regionally, Troms and Nordland recorded the lowest jobless rates, at 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively, while Østfold was the highest at 2.8%. Meanwhile, 23,800 vacancies were advertised in December, equivalent to 1,900 per working day, which is 1% lower than a year earlier. The most jobs are still advertised within health, nursing and care, retail and sales work, service professions and other work. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the number of fully unemployed people rose to 62.4 thousand in December from 62 thousand in November.

The number of people registered as out of work in Norway rose to a seasonally adjusted 65.1 thousand in November 2025 from a slightly upwardly revised 64.7 thousand in the previous month. This was the highest level since January 2022 and corresponded to 2.2% of the workforce. Unemployment increased across most occupational groups, with the highest rate in tourism and transportation (3% of the workforce) and the lowest among academic professions (0.8%). Regionally, Oslo and Østfold recorded the highest jobless rates at 2.8%, while Troms and Nordland posted the lowest at 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. Still, labor demand remained firm, with 33,600 vacancies advertised in November, equivalent to 2,000 per working day and 8% higher than a year earlier, mainly in health, nursing & care, retail & sales, and service occupations and other work. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the number of fully unemployed people increased to 62 thousand in November from 61.3 thousand in October.