Employment rose for the fourth consecutive quarter, the number of employees increased in spring in all SR regions

The number of employees increased year-on-year in 14 out of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy. The positive balance was mainly supported by the higher number of employees in construction, education as well as in accommodation and catering. In the most significant component of employment - industry, the number of employees continued to decrease.

Employment according to the Labor Force Survey (LFSS)¹⁾ in the 2nd quarter of 2022 increased by 2.7% year-on-year, the number of employees²⁾ reached 2 000 604 thousand persons. Growth continued for the fourth consecutive quarter. Total employment after seasonal adjustment increased by 0.8% compared to the previous quarter to 2 620 000 workers.

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The employment rate³⁾, which expresses the share of employees in the total population, increased by 2.8 percentage points (p.p.) to 76.8 % year-on-year. It is not possible to compare the current data in a longer time series, in 2021 a new EU legislation resulted in significant methodological changes⁴⁾

In total, out of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy, the number of employees increased in 14. Among the three manufacturing sectors, the number of employees increased in construction and agriculture (in both by more than 5%), alhough industry - recorded a year-on-year decrease in the number of employees by 0.3%. In industry, which is the largest employing sector of the Slovak economy, 685 thousand people worked in the 2nd quarter. It was less than a year ago and also lower than two years ago (within possible recalculations in case of a fundamental change in methodology).

Services, the most harmed sector by the effects of the pandemic, increased the number of employees by 3.3% year-on-year to 1 000 594 thousand people. In total, they provided work to more than 61% of employees.

The number of employees in accommodation and catering services continued to rose most dynamically (by 17.6% year-on-year), however, this sector suffered the strongest effects of the pandemic for two years, and the current growth did not match the quarter decline of the sector a year ago. Of the large service industries that employ more than 150 thousand workers, education rose more dynamically (by 6.8%). The return of wholesale and retail trade to year-on-year growth (by 1.1%) was also important for the positive development of employment in services.

On the contrary, the continuing decrease in the number of employees in human health and social work activities (by 1.8%) hampered the employment growth.

From a regional perspective, the positive trend continued throughout Slovakia, the number of employees and the employment rate increased year-on-year in all eight regions of Slovakia. Most significantly in Bratislavský kraj by 9.3%, followed by Žilinský kraj by 3.8% and Košice kraj by 2.9%.

Prešovský kraj had the lowest employment rate (below 70%). On the contrary,  Bratislavský kraj, as the only one of all the regions of the SR, exceeded the employment level of 80%, currently reaching 85% of the employment rate. The most significant change was in Košický kraj, where the employment rate increased by 4.7 p. p. to a value of 72%. A significant increase by 4.3 p. p. to 79.4% was also in Žilinský kraj.

In the second quarter of 2022, a total of 114 thousand Slovak citizens went to work abroad⁵⁾, which was by 7% more than in the corresponding period a year ago. They mainly worked in construction (38.5 thousand people), industry (26.6 thousand people) and in human health and social work activities (12.4 thousand people). Within European countries, they worked mainly in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Absolutely the largest number of those who commuted to work abroad came from Prešovský kraj (24.8 thousand people), Žilinský kraj (22.8 thousand people) and Nitriansky kraj (20 thousand people). The highest year-on-year increase in commuting to work was in Nitriansky kraj by 67.9% and in Bratislavský kraj by 60.8%. In Žilinský kraj, an increase by 33% was recorded. In the other five regions of Slovakia, there was a decrease in commuting abroad for work.

Employment in the first half of 2022

In summary, for the first half of 2022, total employment increased by 2.8% to 2 000 588 thousand persons. The largest relative increases in the number of employees were recorded in accommodation and catering services, in professional, scientific and technical activities as well as in art, entertainment and recreation. The number of employees increased in all regions of Slovakia, most significantly in Bratislavský kraj by 8.8% and in Žilinský kraj by 4%. The overall employment rate for the SR rose by 2.8 p. p.  to the current 76.3%. The most dynamic change in the employment rate since the beginning of the year was in Žilinský kraj (78.7%) and Košický kraj (71.1%), where the same growth occurred by more than 4 p. p.

The number of people working abroad for up to 1 year increased by 3.3% to 112 thousand people, compared to the first half of 2021.