Nav’s national labour market figures for September 2026 show fewer registered unemployed people with an immigrant background than a year earlier. Meanwhile, unemployment is rising in engineering and ICT occupations. Published on 2 October, the figures describe different parts of the labour market.

What do the figures show about immigrants?

There were 1 200 fewer fully unemployed people and participants in labour market measures with an immigrant background than in September 2025. Among people without an immigrant background, the number rose by 1 100.

Nav (arbeids- og velferdsetaten, the labour and welfare administration) reports that around half of this group have an immigrant background. Ukrainians were the largest group, followed by people born in Poland and Syria. See the scope in Nav’s September 2026 analysis⁠.

These are registered person counts, not the unemployment rate among all immigrants. Partly unemployed people are also excluded from this particular comparison.

Where are jobs being advertised?

In September, 44 500 vacancies were advertised on arbeidsplassen.no. This was 3 percent more than in September 2025, according to Nav’s press release of 2 October⁠.

The largest numbers of advertisements were in:

  • health, nursing and care: 10 000 vacancies
  • retail and sales: 5 100 vacancies
  • service occupations and other work: 3 800 vacancies.

The figures count new advertisements during the month. They do not list jobs still open on 4 October 2026.

SamfunnPrep provides background on education and working life in Norway.

How can you use the figures?

You can use the figures to choose which occupations and vacancies to examine more closely. They do not mean you will get a job without meeting the advertisement’s requirements.

In engineering and ICT, meaning information and communication technology, fully unemployed people and measure participants increased by 17 percent in one year. A stable national labour market can therefore hide large differences between occupations.

Check language, education, experience and workplace requirements in every advertisement. If you apply for a public sector position, our guide explains your rights when applying for government jobs.

What happens during the rest of autumn?

Nav’s release calendar lists new headline figures on 30 October, 27 November and 18 December 2026. These are planned publications, not a forecast of more jobs.

Follow Nav’s release calendar⁠ if you are considering changing jobs or moving. Compare the same measure over time, and distinguish fully unemployed people, partly unemployed people and participants in measures.