BRATISLAVA, September 6, (WEBNOVINY) – The unemployment rate in Slovakia decreased by 1.3 percentage points y/y to 13.1 percent in the second quarter of this year. This is the lowest joblessness rate since the third quarter of 2009, according to data disclosed by the Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic. The unemployment rate decreased for the second quarter in a row. The decline rate accelerated from 7.7 percent in Q1 to 8.2 percent in Q2. The number of jobless people dropped by 31,800 from the same period a year ago to 356,500 in Q2 of this year. In quarterly terms, seasonally adjusted unemployment declined by 3,200 to 361,000 people in Q2. The average number of unemployed people in the first half of this year was 366,100 on a year-over-year decline of 31,600. The unemployment rate in the first half of this year thus fell 1.3 percentage points to 13.5 percent.
The number of individuals left without a job for longer than a year continued to rise in the April-June period. Compared to Q2 2010, the indicator grew by 4,300 to 231,200. Its portion on the overall unemployment surged 6.5 percentage points to 64.9 percent. In terms of short-term unemployment (less than a year), the rate decreased by 36,100 to 125,300 persons. Considering the economic activity of their last employer, the highest portion of jobless people last worked in industry (89,800). The number of people without a job with last employment in industry dropped the most, by 25,800. The steepest influx of people without a job was reported in the sectors of trade, financial and insurance services.
Kosice County had the highest number of unemployed people in the second quarter of 68,700, followed by Presov County with 64,400. The steepest decrease in unemployment occurred in Nitra County and Trnava County. The number of jobless people grew in Zilina, Bratislava and Kosice Counties. Kosice County had the highest regional unemployment of 19.1 percent.
SITA
