Unemployment Rate at 6.76 percent in December, Grew for First Time Since April

Bratislava, January 20 (TASR) - The unemployment rate in Slovakia stood at 6.76 percent in December, up by 0.12 percentage points (p.p.) month-on-month and down by 0.81 p.p. year-on-year, TASR learnt from the latest data released by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVaR) on Thursday. The unemployment rate posted the first increase on a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis since April 2021. According to UPSVaR, unemployment remains under 20 percent in all districts. The number of jobseekers immediately able to take up a job was 182,760 at the end of last year, a decrease of 20,424 individuals y-o-y. The unemployment rate calculated from the total number of jobseekers reached 7.40 percent in December, up by 0.07 p.p. on a monthly basis and a fall of 0.90 p.p. y-o-y. The total number of jobseekers reached 200,225 in December, going up by 1,898 individuals m-o-m, and down by 27,116 y-o-y. A total of 71,040 job vacancies were available to jobseekers in December. The highest number of jobs was available in Bratislava region, and the lowest in Kosice region. am/mcs