The unemployment rate in the SR reached new annual historic lows of 5.3% last year

The number of people without work and the unemployment rate decreased year-on-year during the last quarter and for the entire year 2024 to new long-term lows. The positive development was that the number of the long-term unemployed decreased. Drops in both indicators at the year-round level were recorded by all regions of Slovakia, there was the most significant improvement in Košický kraj and Banskobystrický kraj.

The number of the unemployed¹⁾ in Slovakia in the 4^th quarter of 2024 reached 145.3 thousand persons, which represented a year-on-year decrease by 7.5%. The number of people without work decreased by 11.8 thousand people year-on-year. This was confirmed by the latest results from the Labor Force Sample Survey (LFSS)²⁾.

Unemployment hovered at historic lows throughout 2024, and in the last three months of the year, it was the second lowest number of the unemployed people compared with individual quarters since the beginning of 2021, when the new methodology began to be applied³⁾. Compared to the previous quarter (after seasonal adjustment), the number of the unemployed decreased by 1.3% to 144 000 people.

The reference rate unemployment rate dropped to 5.2%, which was the same historical low as in the second quarter of 2024 (data from before 2021 had a slightly different methodology). The unemployment rate expresses the share of the number of the unemployed among the economically active persons of the SR aged 15 and 74.

Long-term unemployed continued to dominate the structure. People without work for 12 months or more represented two thirds of the unemployed, but their number decreased year-on-year by almost 10 000 people (by 9.3%).

In terms of the sectoral classification of the last employer, most people last worked in industry, trade and construction. Almost 36% of the unemployed (52 000 people) were people who had never worked before, including school graduates.

From a regional point of view, the number of people without work decreased year-on-year in 7 out of 8 SR regions, the most significantly, by more than 17% (by over 6 thousand people), in Košický kraj. However, the highest numbers of the unemployed continued to be in Prešovský kraj - almost 42 000 people, in Košický kraj – 30 000 people and in Banskobystrický kraj – 24 000 people.

The unemployment rate in the regions ranged from 2% in Bratislavský kraj to 10.5% in Prešovský kraj. The most significant year-on-year positive change occurred in Košický kraj, where the unemployment rate dropped from 9.7% in the last quarter of 2023 to 8% at the end of last year.

Unemployment development in 2024

The unemployment indicators of the SR in total for the year 2024 approached historical lows. The number of people without work on average for the whole year 2024 reached almost 148 000 people, year-on-year decreased by 14 200 people (8.8%). The unemployment rate of the SR dropped below the level of 5.5% for the first time to 5.3%. The total number of the unemployed people as well as the unemployment rate reached the lowest figure in history (the methodology has been adjusted since 2021).

In the structure of the unemployed, up to 65% of people were people who had been out of work for 12 months or more, i.e. long-term unemployed. Their number in the annual average reached 96 000 persons, which decreased by 9% year-on-year. In previous years, this group of the unemployed exceeded 100 000 people.

People who have never worked until now made up about a third of the unemployed (53 000 people), this group also includes school graduates.

Positive national development was manifested in all regions. Both the number of the unemployed and the unemployment rate decreased on average over the year in all 8 SR regions.

A double-digit decrease in the number of the unemployed (by more than 10%) was in Nitriansky, Žilinský, Banskobystrický and Košický kraj. The most significant absolute decrease in the number of people without work by more than 4 000 people was in Košický and Banskobystrický kraj. Despite the positive development, even during the year 2024, it still applied that two thirds of the unemployed in the SR lived in Banskobystrický, Košický and Prešovský kraj.

At the same time, the highest unemployment rate remained in these three regions, at the level of 7.5% to 10.6%. The positive thing was that the situation in both Košický and Banskobystrický kraj improved year-on-year, by 1.3 p. p. The unemployment rate reached historic lows in all SR regions. The region around the capital has had the lowest unemployment rate for a long time - in 2024 it was 2.2%. Žilinský, Trenčiansky, Nitriansky and Trnavský kraj had unemployment rates below 4%. The highest rate of unemployment was still in Banskobystrický and Košický kraj (between 7 and 9%), it had a double-digit value only in Prešovský kraj (10.6%).