Image: ROLAND SCHLAGER (APA)
It is pleasing that the number of long-term unemployed, who have been unemployed for more than twelve months, fell by more than 20 percent year-on-year. The number of vacancies is declining. It was reduced by a good twelve percent compared to May 2022. The number of employees increased by 1.3 percent to 706,000 people.
While 5.6 percent are registered as unemployed in Steyr, the districts of Rohrbach, Eferding and Freistadt shine with unemployment rates of around two percent. Unemployment is falling in Braunau.
Across Austria, 248,037 people were registered as unemployed in May, 4.3 percent more than in May 2022. 72,565 people were in training, slightly fewer than in the previous year. The nationwide unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, 0.2 percentage points higher than in the previous year.
For Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP), the rise in unemployment is “moderate”. In the spring, seasonal fluctuations in unemployment are “nothing unusual,” said Kocher in a broadcast on Thursday. “Of course, positive effects on the labor market are weaker this year due to the economic slowdown than in the previous year, which was characterized by an extraordinarily good economic and labor market development.”
Ukrainians included in unemployment statistics
Since April 21, Ukrainians have had completely free access to the labor market in Austria and are therefore included in the unemployment statistics. Of the 9,000 additional unemployed and training participants at the end of May, around 4,400 are displaced people from Ukraine, according to AMS board member Johannes Kopf. “Weak economic development, high inflation and increased access by job-seeking convention refugees or those entitled to subsidiary protection explain the remaining increase,” said the AMS board in a statement.
The economic downturn in Austria is also reflected in the job market. At the end of May, more than 117,000 vacancies were reported as immediately available at the labor market service, a drop of around 15 percent compared to the same month last year. According to the head of the AMS, tourism, construction and industry are “not looking for as many workers as last year”.
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