site.btaRegistered Unemployment at Record Low of 4.8% in March

The level of registered unemployment in the country is declining, reaching a record low of 4.8 per cent in March, the Employment Agency said on Friday. The decrease compared to the previous month was by 0.1 percentage points, and on an annual basis there was a decrease of 1.7 points.                                                   

The total number of unemployed persons in the labour offices also decreased, as in March they were 155,863. This was 4,043 less than in February and 58,189 or 27.2 per cent less than in the previous year. During the month, 21,547 new unemployed people registered. They were 2140 more than the previous month, and on an annual basis there was a decrease of 3,632 people. Another 737 people from the group of the employed, students and pensioners also registered with labor offices during the month.

The Employment Agency reported an increase in those who started work in March. Their number was 15,966 or 3,252 more than in February. Compared to the same month last year they were 9,181 less. Some 223 people from the groups of the employed, students and pensioners have also found work through employment offices.

The distribution of those who found their new job during the month by sectors of the economy included 60.9 per cent in the real economy, most of which were employed in the manufacturing sector. A total of 19.8 per cent started working in  trade, 15.2 per cent in hotels and restaurants, 10.2 per cent in , agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 8.2 per cent in  construction, 5.5 per cent in  government and 5.5 per cent in other sectors.

Some 3,356 unemployed people from at-risk groups were employed in subsidized jobs during the month, 515 under employment programmes and measures and 2,841 under schemes of the Human Resources Development Operational Programme (HRD OP). The Employment for You scheme under the HRD OP, which started in July 2020 as an anti-crisis measure, has provided employment to nearly 54,250 unemployed, and in March alone employment contracts were signed with 1,792 new people.

The provision of funds under the already well-known 60/40 job retention scheme also continues, and only in March the applications of 3,188 employers to keep the employment of 67,900 employees were approved under this procedure.

The most sought-after professions during the month were: staff employed in the field of personal services; machine operators of stationary machines and equipment; drivers of motor vehicles and mobile equipment; sellers; workers in the mining and processing industry, construction and transport.