Novo Nordisk layoffs cause employment to fall for first time in 17 months

A total of 1,100 fewer people had paid employment in February than the month before, which was a fall of less than 0.1 percent.

In total, 3,078,500 people had jobs in February.

In the 'companies and organisations' sector, which is primarily made up of private companies, the number of employees was 1,400 lower than in January, a fall of 0.1 percent. In the public sector, the number of employees rose by 300. 

Jesper Grunnet-Lauridsen, labour market economist at 3F, wrote in a comment to Ritzau that this is primarily due to layoffs at Novo Nordisk.

"The number of employees at Novo fell by around 2,000 in February," he said.

Another factor behind the falling figures could also be weather-dependent work like construction, where activity was slower than usual due to the cold.

These figures are preliminary and have been adjusted for seasonal effects.