Unemployment Rate Down to 6.42 percent in September
Bratislava, October 20 (TASR) – The unemployment rate in Slovakia stood at 6.42 percent in September, down by 0.12 percentage points (p.p.) month-on-month and by 3.00 p.p. year-on-year, Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVaR) general director Marian Valentovic told a press conference in Bratislava on Friday with Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Jan Richter (Smer-SD) in attendance.
The number of jobseekers immediately able to take up a job was 175,021 in September, a decrease of 3,232 individuals m-o-m and of 80,898 y-o-y, said Valentovic.
The unemployment rate calculated from the total number of jobseekers reached 7.59 percent in September, down by 0.11 p.p. m-o-m and by 3.24 p.p. y-o-y, he added.
“The total number of jobseekers reached 206,887 in September, falling by 3,031 individuals m-o-m and by 87,208 y-o-y,” said the UPSVaR head.
As for individual regions, all Slovak regions but Zilina recorded cuts in the unemployment rate in September, with Presov region seeing the most significant drop (0.26 p.p.).
On the district level, the unemployment rate was down in 61 districts in Slovakia in September, while increases were recorded in 17 districts and it did not changed in one district.
“In terms of handicapped job applicants, we can state that there was, in line with expectations, a m-o-m increase in categories of young people, chiefly school graduates, where a growth of 3,117 persons was recorded. In terms of young job applicants up to 29 years of age, the increase amounted to 1,675 persons. In all the remaining categories, such as job applicants over 50 years of age, we posted a monthly drop of 1,496 persons. Similarly, in the category of long-term unemployed (more than 12 months), were reported a monthly decline of 2,793 persons,” said Valentovic.
The Labour office registered the highest unemployment rate in the district of Rimavska Sobota (20.28 percent), while the lowest rate was posted in the district of Piestany (2.39 percent).
Labour offices reported 74,942 job vacancies in late September, up by 5,838 vacancies m-o-m. The highest number of jobs was available in Bratislava region (16,703), while the lowest was in Kosice region (4,489).
