Unemployment indicators increased more rapidly in the first quarter of the year

At the beginning of 2026, the number of unemployed persons at the increased dynamically year-on-year, exceeding 160 thousand, while the unemployment rate also rose more markedly, though it remained below 6%. Among the 8 regions, the most significant increases in both indicators were recorded in Banskobystrický kraj.

In the first quarter of 2026, the number of the unemployed¹⁾ in Slovakia amounted to 161.9 thousand, representing a year-on-year increase by 10.4%. Compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of people without work rose by 15.3 thousand. These results are based on the latest data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS)²⁾.

The number of unemployed persons was higher than in the first quarters of the previous two years and was equal to the average value for the whole of 2023, according to the new methodology applied since 2021³⁾.

Compared with the previous fourth quarter (seasonally adjusted), the total number of unemployed persons increased by 3.4% to 159.9 thousand persons.

The reference unemployment rate⁴⁾ rose to 5.9%, an increase by 0.6 percentage points (p.p.) year-on-year. It thus remained just below the 6% threshold, which was last exceeded in the first quarter of 2023 (three years ago).

The number of long-term unemployed rose to almost 106 thousand, while their share in total unemployment remained at 65%. These were individuals who had been out of work for 12 months or more. The number of short-term unemployed persons was 56 thousand, they had been without work for a maximum of 11 months or less. However, their number increased by more than 3 thousand year-on-year. In a single quarter, the increase was almost as large as that recorded during the whole of the previous year.

By their last employment, the largest shares of unemployed persons previously worked in industry (17.6%), wholesale and retail trade (9.9%), and construction (9.0%). At the same time, construction recorded the largest year-on-year increase in the number of unemployed persons (by 6.3 thousand), followed by industry (by 4.0 thousand). Therefore, a record number of unemployed persons from the two largest production sectors entered the labour market, together representing two-thirds of the current increase in Slovakia´s unemployment.

In the overall structure of people without work, unemployed persons who had never worked continued to represent one quarter (26.4%). Although their number dropped year-on-year by almost 5 thousand persons, there were still nearly 43 thousand of them. In the long term, this group has consisted mainly of young people aged up to 34 years, including school graduates, who account for almost two thirds.

The number of unemployed persons increased in most regions

The highest numbers of unemployed persons among the eight SR regions were still recorded in Košický kraj, Prešovský kraj and Banskobystrický kraj, with each region reporting more than 30 thousand persons without work. In total, these three regions made up approximately two thirds of all people without work in Slovakia. In contrast, the regions in the western and northern Slovakia recorded between 7.5 thousand and 13.2 thousand unemployed persons.

The number of unemployed persons rose year-on-year in 5 of 8 SR regions. The largest relative increase was recorded in Nitriansky kraj, where the number of unemployed persons rose by as much as 47% year-on-year (+5.9 thousand persons), followed by Banskobystrický kraj with an increase of 35% (+8.0 thousand persons). A considerable rise of 25% was also registered in Bratislavský kraj (+2.7 thousand persons), which had long been the region with the lowest unemployment in Slovakia.

In contrast, unemployment improved year-on-year in 3 regions. The most significant decrease in the number of unemployed persons was recorded in Prešovský kraj, down by almost 17% (7 thousand persons), followed by Trnavský kraj, where the number dropped by nearly 16% (1.4 thousand persons). Žilinský kraj also recorded a decline of more than 2% (0.3 thousand persons).

New leaders in the unemployment rate ranking

The highest unemployment rates were recorded in three Slovak regions. The rate reached 9.9% in Banskobystrický kraj, followed by 9.7% in Košický kraj and 8.8% in Prešovský kraj. The fourth-highest unemployment rate was observed in Nitriansky kraj, at 5.5%. By contrast, the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Žilinský kraj (2.9%) and Trnavský kraj (2.6%), where the indicator fell to its lowest level on record. Surprisingly, both regions reporded lower unemployment rates than Bratislavský kraj, which had traditionally recorded the lowest unemployment rate among all regions. In the region surrounding Slovakia’s capital, the indicator rose to 3.3%, causing it to lose its long-held top position in the ranking.

In total, out of 8 SR regions, five recorded a year-on-year increase in the unemployment rate. The largest annual increase, by 2.6 percentage points (pp), was observed in Banskobystrický kraj, where the rate rose to 9.9%. Nitriansky kraj recorded the second-largest increase, up by 1.7 p.p. to 5.5%. In contrast, the most significant decline, by 1.7 p.p, was recorded in Prešovský kraj, where the unemployment rate remained below 10% for the second consecutive quarter.