The moderate growth of employment in the SR continued in the spring, with a higher number of employees in both manufacturing and services

The number of employees increased year-on-year in half of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy. A slightly positive development was affected by an increase in the number of employees in industry, with the largest increase in the number of employees in information and communication within services. Employment increased in 6 out of 8 regions of the SR, mostly in Košický kraj.

According to the Labor Force Survey (LFS)¹⁾ employment in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 0.3% year-on-year. The number of employees²⁾ in the SR reached almost 2 million 618 thousand persons. After seasonal adjustment, employment decreased quarter-on-quarter (compared to the first quarter) by 0.1% to over 2 621 000 employees.

The employment rate³⁾, which expresses the share of employees from the total population, increased by 0.6 percentage points (p.p.) year-on-year to 78.1%.

In total, in the 2^nd quarter of 2024, of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy, employment increased year-on-year in half of them. The slightly positive development in the manufacturing sectors is due to an increase of over 7 000 in industry. On the contrary, construction and agriculture recorded a combined year-on-year decrease in employment by almost 3.5 thousand persons.

The largest number of people, almost 63% of the total number of employees in the Slovak Republic, traditionally worked in services, which represented over 1 million 646 thousand people. After stagnation at the beginning of 2024, their number increased year-on-year in the spring. The most significant real employment progress was recorded in information and communication, where was a higher number of employees by 12.3 thousand (increase by 12.4%). Important for the entire service sector was the return of people to wholesale and retail trade, in which more than 10 000 people (increase by 3.1%) increased year-on-year after a quarter of a drop in employment. In art, entertainment and recreation there were 8.6 thousand people (increase by 28%), in accommodation and food services by 5.4 thousand people (increase by 5.3%). The labor market weakened most significantly in the sector of financial and insurance activities by almost 10 000 people (a decrease by 13.2%), as well as in healthcare and social work activities by more than 9 000 people (a decrease by 4.4%).

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In terms of educational groups, the largest number of employees with a complete secondary vocational education with a high school diploma increased by almost 25 000 year-on-year (an increase by 2.7%). They represented more than a third of the total employment.

According to the age composition, at the beginning of the year, the labor market recorded higher year-on-year increases by 5.4% in the group of employees aged 50 to 54 (by 16.5 thousand persons) and in the group over 59 years of age by 5.3% (more than 11 thousand persons). On the contrary, the number of workers between the ages of 15 and 34 decreased.

From a regional perspective, the number of employees in the 2^nd quarter of 2024 increased year-on-year in 6 out of 8 SR regions. Growth in the number of employees above 1% was achieved only in Košický kraj (where at the same time the maximum number of 5 thousand people increased) and in Trnavský kraj. Just under 1% of employees increased in Banskobystrický and Bratislavský kraj. Žilinský and Prešovský kraj also recorded an increase in the number of employees. Year-on-year, there were by 1.6% fewer employees in Trenčiansky kraj and by 1.1% in Nitriansky kraj.

In addition to Bratislavský kraj, Žilinský kraj also achieved the highest employment rate, above the threshold of 80%. The most significant change occurred in Košický kraj, where the employment rate increased by 1.7 p.p. year-on-year in the spring to 72.7%. Prešovský kraj had the lowest employment rate (72.5%).

In the second quarter of this year, 112 000 Slovak citizens went to work abroad⁴⁾, which was by 1.6% less than a year ago. They worked mainly in construction, industry and health and social work activities. Most of them came from Prešovský kraj (almost 27 thousand people), Žilinský kraj and Banskobytrický kraj (both similarly over 18 thousand people). The highest year-on-year increase in the number of people commuting for work outside the SR was in Banskobystrický kraj - by almost 95% (by more than 9 000 people). On the contrary, in Nitriansky kraj, the most significant decrease of workers abroad occurred, with a year-on-year decrease by 46.2% (by 9.5 thousand persons).

In total for the first half of 2024, the number of employees increased by 0.6% to almost 2 million 610 thousand people. In total, out of 18 monitored sectors of the economy, the number of employees increased in 11 of them. Compared to the corresponding period last year, the largest number of employees increased in industry, as well as in accommodation and food services (approximately 9.5 thousand people each). A higher increase of the number of employees (by 8.4 thousand persons) was also recorded in art, entertainment and recreation. On the contrary, the number of employees in administrative services (by 8 thousand people), as well as in health care and social work activities (by 7.8 thousand people), decreased significantly year-on-year.

The number of employees increased year-on-year in 6 out of 8 SR regions, but above 1% only in Bratislavský kraj and Košický kraj. The number of employees decreased slightly in the first half of the year in Trenčiansky kraj (by 0.4%) and in Nitriansky kraj (by 0.2%).

The employment rate for the first 6 months of 2024 overall for the Slovak Republic increased by 0.7 p. p. to the current 77.9%. The most dynamic change in the employment rate since the beginning of the year occurred in Košice region, where a growth by 1.4 p.p. was recorded.

The number of people working abroad for up to 1 year decreased by 1.3% compared to the first half of 2023 to almost 115 thousand people.