There are mixed messages in Finland's economic outlook: growth and confidence are on the rise while inflation is slowing – yet unemployment remains sky-high.A new building going up in Tampere's Hiedanranta neighbourhood last week. Image: Miikka Varila / YleYle NewsSTT11:30The Finnish economy is growing at its fastest pace in five years, according to the Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo).Hypo forecasts growth of 1.5 percent this year and 1.7 percent next year, although wars and conflicts, global trade relations and interest rate uncertainty are holding back the Finnish economy's recovery.Public confidence is also now at its highest level since 2022, while inflation has slowed slightly.However, unemployment remains stubbornly high, at the worst level since the late 1990s."Uncertainty has not disappeared: the rising unemployment rate and the large number of bankruptcies are overshadowing the prospects of both households and companies, and the bottleneck in the energy market caused by the Gulf crisis is affecting interest rates and stifling growth," Hypo’s chief economist, Juho Keskinen, said in a press release.Keskinen predicts that this year’s unemployment rate will average 10.8 percent, dropping to 10 percent next year.The purchasing power of those who have jobs is strengthening, but it’s become tougher for young people to get a foothold in the labour market, while average stints of unemployment have become longer and part-time work has become the new normal, Hypo notes.Inflation slows a bitMeanwhile, Finland's EU-harmonised inflation slowed to 2.7 percent in June, Statistics Finland said on Wednesday. The rate edged down from 2.8 percent in May.The biggest cost increase was in education services, which rose by 11.5 percent. Transport ranked second with a year-on-year rise of 6.4 percent. Average prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by about one percent.The EU’s Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices does not include loan interest rates and investments.