First rise in unemployment in two years in Austria

In Upper Austria, however, the unemployment rate is the lowest in a comparison of the federal states, according to the state labor market service. The rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent year-on-year. The new regional director, Iris Schmidt, points out that unemployment is still declining, but more young people are registering as jobseekers. “This leads to an increase in the number of apprenticeship seekers, especially in the over 17 age group.” This puts young adults in competition with younger career entrants.

With an estimated employment of 701,000 dependent employees, the employment rate continues to rise.

Nationwide, unemployment rose in April for the first time in two years. At the end of April, the number of unemployed and training participants was 1.2 percent higher than in the same month last year. 331,156 people were registered as unemployed or in training, which is 3,848 more than a year ago. The slight increase had been expected by experts. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.2 percent.

The sideways movement in the unemployment rate is “mainly due to the increase in employment,” said Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) in a broadcast on Tuesday. Kocher also pointed out that people displaced from the Ukraine, now that they have completely free access to the labor market, are gradually being recorded in the regular labor market statistics. According to AMS board member Johannes Kopf, around 2,900 displaced persons from Ukraine have been registered with the AMS as unemployed or in training for less than two weeks.

The economic slowdown in Austria is also reflected in the job market. At the end of April, more than 115,000 vacancies were reported as immediately available at the Public Employment Service (AMS), a drop of around 11 percent compared to the same month last year. Eight percent fewer vacancies were reported in Upper Austria than in the previous year. However, at 31,000, this number is still higher than the unemployment figure at 26,000. There are also almost 9,500 people in training.