The number of unemployed people in the 4th quarter of 2021 decreased year-on-year, the unemployment rate for the whole year increased to 6.8%

The number of unemployed decreased at the end of 2021, bringing the unemploy-ment rate down to a quarterly level of 6.6%, but increasing slightly by 6.8% at the year-round level. However, the number of long-term unemployed continued to grow.

During the 4^th quarter of 2021, the number of the unemployed according to the Labor Force Survey (LFSS)¹⁾ decreased for the second time in a row. The number of the unemployed²⁾ was lower by 3.5% year-on-year and reached 183.4 thousand persons. Compared to the previous quarter, after seasonal adjustment it increased by 0.6% to 184.6 thousand persons.

The unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage point (p.p.) compared to the corresponding period last year to 6.6%.

It is not possible to compare the current data in a longer time series, i.e. with the corresponding period of 2019, because since 2021, the change in the EU legislation led to significant methodological changes and the data are not compatible with data for the previous periods. In order to provide basic information on the labor market, year-on-year indices were separately recalculated as much as possible, but not other or older LFS data.

The ongoing pandemic mainly affects the long-term unemployment. In the current 4th quarter of 2021, the long-term unemployed (who did not work for 1 year and longer) consisted of more than 125 thousand persons, which represented 68% of the unemployed. The share of the long-term unemployed has been increasing since the beginning of 2021; in the first quarter of 2021, the unemployed for 1 year and longer made up only 45% of the unemployed. The total year-on-year increase in the number of the unemployed in the group of unemployed persons aged 12 and over increased by 43.6% year-on-year.

Short-term unemployment (lasting up to 12 months) dropped by more than 40% at the end of 2021.

The number of the unemployed increased year-on-year only in the age groups over 49, the most significantly in the group from 50 to 54 by 58.7%. Other age groups recorded a decrease in the number of unemployed, mostly among young people under 25, by 15.7%.

From the perspective of the last employer's economic activity, the most people recently worked in industry, trade and construction. The number of the unemployed without work experience also decreased, by 1.8% year-on-year. So far, 49.4 thousand people have never worked, which represented more than a quarter of the unemployed.

From a regional perspective, the number of the unemployed in the 4^th quarter of 2021 decreased year-on-year in five regions, it increased in three. Compared to the 4^th quarter of 2020, the relatively highest number of the unemployed increased in Košický and Banskobystrický kraj, by approximately 20%. In addition, the unemployed also increased in Trnavský kraj. The most significant relative decrease was recorded in Bratislavský kraj (by 41.1%) and in Trenčiansky kraj (by 30.8%). The most unemployed were still in the regions of eastern Slovakia, in each of them there was more than 40 thousand unemployed people.

The highest unemployment rate was in Banskobystrický kraj (11%), reaching double-digit value also in Košický kraj (10.8%) and Prešovský kraj (10.4%). At the same time, Banskobystrický kraj also saw the highest increase in the unemployment rate (by 1.9 p.p). On the contrary, the most significant improvement in the situation occurred in Prešovský kraj, where the unemployment rate dropped by 1.8 p.p.

Unemployment during 2021

For the whole of 2021, unemployment increased by 4.7% year on year. The number of the unemployed reached 187.6 thousand persons. The unemployment rate in 2021 increased by 0.3 p.p. and reached at year-round level of 6.8%.

According to the economic activity of the last employer, the number of unemployed people who recently worked in trade (by 4.1 thousand) and in construction (by 3.4 thousand) increased the most. The number of the unemployed who last worked in industry (the largest employer sector) decreased significantly, last year their number falling by 14.8 % year-on-year.

From a regional perspective, the number of the unemployed increased on a year-round basis in three regions. The highest decrease in the number of unemployed persons occurred in Bratislavský kraj (by 15.9%) and in Nitriansky kraj (by 12.2%), lower decreases also occurred in Trenčiansky, Žilinský and Prešovský kraj. On the other hand, the most dynamic increase in the number of unemployed people occurred in Trnavský kraj by 36.2%, but it is a region with a lower number of the unemployed.

The unemployment rate increased most significantly in Košický kraj for the whole of 2021 (by 2.2 p.p.) and reached the level of 10.3%. The highest unemployment rate in 2021, similarly to the previous years, was in Prešovský kraj (11.4 %). The decrease in the unemployment rate within the balance of the whole year 2021 occurred in five regions, the most in Nitriansky kraj (by 0.6 p.p). The lowest unemployment rate has long been in Bratislavský kraj, in 2021, 2.6% of the economically active population was unemployed.