ISTAT: Unemployment for the third quarter was 17.4%

The unemployment rate for the third trimester of 2014 decreased slightly from 17.7% to 17.4%, compared to the second trimester of the year. INSTAT published the report on unemployment based on the data received by a survey compiled in the last months. Despite these figures, the unemployment still remains at high levels, if we compare it to figures of the same period of 2013, where the economy of the country was at a very critic moment.

According to the survey, the unemployment is higher at males by 19.6% and for the females is 14.5%. INSTAT report shows that the scale of employment is 52.3%, a low percentage that has started to increase.

A very positive development during this year was the increase of labor force participation, which shows that more active individuals searched for jobs. This indicator reached 63.4%  for the working age population, growing by 5.5 percentage points since the beginning of the year. However, participation remains very low for women, where only 53% of them are part of the active labor force. The specific indicators, such as unemployment among young people remain still very worrying.

For the age group from 15 to 29 years, the unemployment rate is 32.4%, still at a very high level despite there is noticed a decrease in percentage points compared with the previous quarter. The labor market offers more opportunities for the 30-64 years age group, where the unemployment rate is much lower, about 12.4%.