After November’s increase, the national data agency’s early indicator suggests an increase by 2,600 for the unemployment figure in December.

Additionally, the agency has revised upwards the total it calculated for November from 1,800 to 3,100 additional people out of work.

Official figures showed that total unemployment in Denmark in November was 77,000.

The Statistics Denmark indicator is distinct from the official figure because it is derived from a smaller data set which is available earlier.

December’s indicator may be more uncertain than usual due to possible changes in the amount of holiday taken as a result of new holiday rules, news wire Ritzau writes.

However, the figure is cause for economic concern should the indicator prove to be accurate, according to senior economist Tore Stramer of the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

“Today’s job seeker figure is a real downer and shows that the inflation crisis has elicited a quite clear increase in unemployment towards the end of 2022,” he said.

“We unfortunately expect there to be a longer-term reversal in unemployment that will stretch into both 2023 and 2024,” he said.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce has predicted a total increase in unemployment of 35,000 this year.

Figures from national site Jobnet show that there were 20 percent fewer jobs advertised in December compared to a year ago.

“That tells you something about a labour market that certainly does not show the same strengths at the end of 2022 that it did at the start of 2022,” economist Jeppe Juul Borre of Arbejdernes Landsbank told Ritzau.

“Unemployment is still close to the lowest since 2008. In a historical context, a lot of jobs are still being advertised. Just not as many as a year ago,” he said.

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