Unemployment was again at a record low, the rate considerably approached 5%
The decline in unemployment did not stop even in the 2nd quarter, the downward trend has been maintained for the past three years. The number of unemployed people decreased by more than 15,000 year-on-year, approaching the threshold of 140,000 people. The number of long-term unemployed declined below the 100,000 threshold for the first time in three years at a double-digit rate. The number of unemployed decreased overall in five regions of the SR, the number of unemployed increased significantly only in Prešovský kraj, where the unemployment rate remained above 10%.
The number of unemployed reached 142.7 thousand persons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.6% was recorded in the 2nd quarter of 2024. Year-on-year declines in the number of unemployed continued for the twelfth consecutive quarter.
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After seasonal adjustment, the number of unemployed1) decreased by 4.5% to 146.3 thousand persons compared to the previous quarter. It relates to data from the outputs of the Labour Force Survey (LFS)2)
The unemployment rate indicating the share of unemployed among economically active persons represented a record low value of 5.2%, it decreased by 0.5 percentage point (p.p.) year-on-year.
Both decisive indicators of the labour market – the number of unemployed persons, as well as the unemployment rate – thus still exceeded the historical lows reached in the first quarter of 2024 (however, in 2021, the EU survey methodology changed more significantly3)).
The long-term unemployed represented the most of the unemployed, over 64%. However, the number of unemployed persons for one year or more declined significantly in the 2nd quarter, at a double-digit rate by 12.4% year-on-year. For the first time in three years, it reached the threshold of one hundred thousand people (92.2 thousand people). Short-term unemployment decreased more moderately, by 3.8% to 50.5 thousand persons – it includes unemployed less than 12 months.
The unemployment decreased in all age categories except for the youngest group under 24 years of age. From the point of view of education, it decreased in most educational groups, it increased only in primary and university education.
In total, in 9 out of 16 economic activities of the last employer, there was a year-on-year decrease in the number of unemployed persons. The largest number of persons were employed last time in industry, where the number of unemployed exceeded 21,000 and in trade 12,500. The year-on-year decrease in the number of unemployed in industry was also among the most significant. More than a third of the unemployed (more than 51,000 people) were represented by persons who had never worked before. Their number increased by 6%, school graduates were also included in this group.
From a regional point of view, there was an overall improvement in the situation and a decrease in the number of unemployed in 5 out of 8 regions of the SR. The highest year-on-year relative decrease (by 20%) was reached by Žilinský kraj and the highest absolute decrease (by 5.8 thousand persons) by Košický kraj. Three regions – Trnavský kraj, Bratislavský kraj and Trenčiansky kraj – recorded the number of unemployed persons below the threshold of 10,000 people. The highest number of unemployed (more than 40,000 people) with an annual increase of over a thousand people was once again in Prešovský kraj.
A decrease in the unemployment rate in a year-on-year comparison was recorded in 5 regions of Slovakia. The most significant positive change was recorded in Banskobystrický kraj and Košický kraj, where the unemployment rate dropped identically by 1.5 p. p. to the value of 6.8% and 8.7%. At the same time, the unemployment rate in three regions – Nitriansky kraj, Trnavský kraj, Žilinský kraj – approached the 3% threshold, and it was below 3% in Trenčiansky kraj and Bratislavský kraj. On the contrary, the unemployment rate increased the most in Prešovský kraj, as it continued to exceed 10% in this only region.
In total, during the first half of 2024, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 9.2% year-on-year, and the number of unemployed reached 148.7 thousand people. The unemployment rate in the SR decreased by 0.5 p. p. to 5.4%.
The total number of unemployed according to the economic activity of the last employer decreased most significantly in industry and construction (a total of over 15,000 people). The number of persons without work experience increased compared to the first half of 2023 (by 4.9 thousand people), so approximately every third unemployed person has never had a job.
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