Image: OON
Image: OÖN graphics
46,246 people were registered as unemployed in Upper Austria in December. That was 12.2 percent more than in December 2023. The unemployment rate rose by 0.7 percentage points to 6.4 percent.
This means that Upper Austria is still below the national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent. The latter is mainly driven by Vienna, where unemployment is twice as high as in Upper Austria.
The head of the AMS Upper Austria, Iris Schmidt, reports that the increase in unemployment does not come as a surprise, but is a consequence of the weak economy.
This particularly affects women, older people and the long-term unemployed. The increase in unemployment is particularly strong there. Unemployment among women rose by 17.4 percent and among those over 55 by 16.4 percent. And the number of unemployed people who have not had a job for more than a year rose by a good third.
Industrial companies in particular are extremely reluctant to hire new workers because of the modest growth prospects, says Schmidt. The number of job vacancies has fallen by 16.9 percent; only in the health and social sector are there more jobs available than in December 2023.
4.9 percent for the year as a whole
After all, almost 20,000 positions could still be filled immediately in Upper Austria alone if the suitable skilled workers could be found. Schmidt therefore points out that young adults in particular should be given future-oriented training – a strategy that demonstrably bore fruit last year.
Image: OÖN graphics
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Image: OÖN graphics
Source: Nachrichten
