Employment in the SR rose even before the summer, due to the increase in the number of employees in services, especially in Bratislavský kraj

The number of employees increased slightly year-on-year in 10 out of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy. The development was mainly supported by the increase in the number of employees in services, which are continuously recovering from the effects of the pandemic. In manufacturing sectors, employment dropped which was influenced by a further decline in the largest sector of the economy, industry.

In the second quarter of 2023, almost 2 609 000 people worked in the Slovak labor market, according to the Labor Force Selection Survey (LFS)¹⁾. The number of employees²⁾ increased year-on-year by 5.1 thousand persons, thus employment increased by 0.2%.

Total employment increased by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter (compared to the previous quarter) after seasonal adjustment and exceeded the level of 2 615 000 employed persons.

The employment rate³⁾, which expresses the share of employed persons from the total population, increased year-on-year by 0.7 percentage points (p.p.) to 77.5%.

A total of 10 out of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy recorded an increase in the number of employees. There were more than 47 000 employees in services. On the contrary, in manufacturing sectors, the number of employees decreased by almost 42 000 people, while in industry their number was lower by 40 300 people (a drop of 5.9%).

Services continued to recover and in the 2^nd quarter of 2023, employment growth by 3% year-on-year followed the increasing number of employees in this sector. Currently, more than 1 641 000 people were employed, which was almost 63% of the total number of employees.

The growth of employment in services was most significantly influenced by the increase in the number of employees in wholesale and retail trade by 16.3 thousand, in financial and insurance activities by 14.5 thousand, in transportation and storage by 13.3 thousand, as well as in accommodation and food services by 11.6 thousands of employees. A more significant year-on-year decrease was recorded only in information and communication with a decrease of 12.5 thousand persons.

From a regional point of view, during the 2^nd quarter of 2023, the number of employees increased year-on-year in half out of the 8 SR regions, the most in Bratislavský kraj by 3.4%. In the region with the highest share of employment, there were almost more than 13 000 employed men and women year-on-year. Moderate growth was recorded in Prešovský, Nitriansky and Žilinský kraj. In the other four regions, the number of employees decreased by a total of over 21 000 people.

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Bratislavský kraj recorded the highest employment rate at 86.2%, and it is the only one of all SR regions to continuously maintain it around 85%. The employment rate in the other regions was below 80%, with Košický kraj recording the lowest at 71%. It increased the most in Prešovský kraj by 2.7 p.p., while the employment rate decreased in only three regions, from 0.1 to 1 p.p. – in Trnavský, Trenčiansky and Košický kraj.

Around 114 000 Slovak citizens travelled for work abroad⁴⁾ in the 2nd quarter of 2023, which was lower by 0.2% than in the corresponding period last year. They were employed mainly in construction, industry and health care and social work activities.

The substantial majority of those who worked or commuted abroad for work, were from Prešovský kraj (more than 26 000 people), Nitriansky kraj (more than 20 000 people), Žilinský kraj (almost 20 000 people) and Košický kraj (almost 17 000 people). The highest year-on-year increase was in Košický kraj, by 33.5%, and Trnavský kraj also recorded a similar increase, with an increase by 31.4%.

Employment in the first half of 2023

In total, for the first two quarters of 2023, the number of employees increased by 0.2% to over 2 000 594 people. In total, out of 18 monitored sectors of the economy, the number of employees increased in 10. Compared to the corresponding period last year, the largest number of employees increased in health care (20 000), followed by wholesale and retail trade (over 18 000), transportation and storage (over 12 000), as well as construction (over 11 000).

Year-on-year, the number of employees increased in three SR regions, most significantly in Bratislavský kraj by 3.7%, more moderately in Prešovský kraj by 1.5% and in Žilinský kraj by 0.9%. Despite the fact that in the first half of 2023, up to 5 SR regions recorded a year-on-year decrease in the number of employees, this reduction was only insignificant.

In total, the employment rate for the first half of 2023 for the SR increased by 0.4 p. p. to the current 77.1%. The most dynamic change in the employment rate since the beginning of the year was registered in Bratislavský and Banskobystrický kraj, where there was an identical growth by 1.1 p.p.

Compared with the first half of 2022, the number of people working abroad for up to 1 year increased by 4% to 116 000 people.