386,902 people are currently registered as unemployed or in AMS training courses, 6,642 fewer than in the previous week, the Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday. This means that unemployment is at its lowest level in ten years, according to Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP). However, 184,454 people are currently pre-registered for short-time work.
“The fact that we are also seeing a slight downward trend in unemployment this week is due to both seasonal effects and the ongoing positive dynamics on the labor market,” commented Kocher on the current labor market data. In mid-February 2012, unemployment figures including training were at a similar level to today, at 384,588. According to the Ministry of Labor, in mid-February 2019, 2020 and 2021 there were 35,414, 22,620 and 136,679 more people unemployed.
Compared to the previous week, the number of pre-registered short-time workers rose by around 5,500 to 184,454. “Comparing to the previous year, it can be seen that companies had to pre-register fewer employees for short-time work, since the positive development on the labor market and in the economy was not slowed down by such extensive restrictions this year as it was in 2021,” said the Labor Minister. At the end of January 2021, 470,493 people were still pre-registered for short-time work. According to Kocher, current surveys for the fourth quarter of 2021 show that just over half of the short-time work pre-registered by companies is being used. This testifies to “a high level of dynamism on the labor market” and shows “that many companies are only making advance notifications for short-time work as a precautionary measure”.
Source: Nachrichten
