Unemployment Rate Down to 4.92 percent in November 2019
Bratislava, December 20 (TASR) – The unemployment rate in Slovakia stood at 4.92 percent in November, down by 0.02 percentage points (p.p.) from October, Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVR) general director Marian Valentovic told a news conference on Friday with Labour Minister Jan Richter (Smer-SD) in attendance.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate declined by 0.17 p.p. year-on-year.
The number of jobseekers immediately able to start work was 135,507 in November, a decrease of 685 individuals m-o-m and an increase of 4,020 y-o-y, said Valentovic.
The unemployment rate calculated from the total number of jobseekers stood at 6.01 percent in November. It thus posted a drop of 0.03 p.p. m-o-m, while falling by 0.26 p.p. y-o-y.
The total number of jobseekers was 165,562 in November. “[This was] a decrease of 740 individuals m-o-m, while the number went down by 6,309 y-o-y,” stated Valentovic.
Six regions reported monthly decreases in their unemployment rates in November 2019, with Bratislava region recording the most significant drop. Meanwhile, two regions posted a monthly growth in their unemployment rates.
Labour offices reported 97,783 job vacancies in late November, down by 1,865 m-o-m. The highest number of vacancies was posted in Bratislava region and the lowest in Banska Bystrica region.
Richter stated that the end and the beginning of a year are usually not very favourable in terms of hiring employees. “It’s in our interest to have employers interested in hiring employees from among disadvantaged groups of people,” stated Richter, adding the ministry’s goal is to have an unemployment rate lower than 5 percent at the end of this year.
Concerning mass layoffs, Richter said that three mass layoffs were reported in Slovakia in November with 25 people losing their jobs and 79 jobs being threatened. “These are not any high figures and we should satisfy these people from the viewpoint of job vacancies,” noted Richter. A total of 46 mass layoffs were reported between January-November of this year with 5,367 jobs being threatened. However, five mass layoffs were eventually cancelled.
Labour offices erased 470 long-term unemployed from their registers in November. “A positive trend continued in November,” added Richter.
