The country's unemployment rate increased in the first quarter of this year after almost three years of continuous decline. According to the data of the National Statistical Institute, it is already 5% on average for the quarter, i.e. 0.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier, Nova TV reports. In the past few quarters, unemployment had fallen to 4 percent, and in some quarters as low as 3.7 percent.
The people of active age registered in the labor offices are now about 152,500 people, while a year earlier they were 134,900 people. Of all unemployed persons, 9.1% have a higher education, 53.2% - a secondary education, and 37.7% - a primary or lower education. This is combined with a decrease in employment. Currently, 2,907,000 people work in our country, while a year earlier there were 2,928,000 people.
NSI also recorded an even stronger increase in youth unemployment. The unemployment rate for the age group 15 - 29 years of age in the first quarter of 2024 is 9.3 percent. Compared to the same quarter of 2023, this ratio is higher by 2.2 percentage points.