Stats: Number of Working People Down by Less Than 1 percent Y-o-Y in 1Q26

Bratislava, 2 June (TASR) - The number of working people in Slovakia stood at more than 2.585 million in the first quarter of 2026, down by less than 1 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), or by nearly 19,000 people, the Statistics Office reported on Tuesday based on a labour force survey, adding that a very slight decline was recorded for the fourth consecutive quarter. Seasonally adjusted, employment fell by nearly 0.1 percent to more than 2.601 million when compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. The employment rate as a share of working-age people in Slovakia's population fell only slightly by 0.1 percentage points (p.p.) to 77.8 percent. The most significant decline, of 3 percent, was recorded in the production sector, consisting of industry, construction and agriculture with forestry, where the number of employed people dropped by nearly 29,000 to 935,000. Of the three production sectors, the biggest decline was in industry, by 21,000 people (or 3.3 percent), with 623,000 people employed in the first quarter of 2026. The figure for the construction sector fell by 12,600, down by 4.9 percent to less then 247,000. More than 1.6 million people worked in the services sector, which posted a slight rise by 0.5 percent (up by 8,000), with the biggest increase seen in education (up 9.5 percent, or 20,000 people). Conversely, wholesale and retail shrank by 4.1 percent (13,800). The number of employed people dropped in six of the eight regions, most notably in Banska Bystrica region (by 3.3 percent, or 9,500). Conversely, the biggest increase was seen in Trnava region, up by 2.5 percent (or 7,100). The employment rate was highest in Bratislava region (83.6 percent) and Trnava region (81.8 percent), with Zilina region seeing a similar level, while the figure remained below 80 percent in Trencin and Nitra regions. Employment rates lower than 75 percent were reported in Banska Bystrica region, which recorded the most-significant year-on-year decrease of 2.2 p.p. to 74.5 percent, in Presov region, where the figure rose to a record 73.8 percent, and in Kosice region, which again recorded the lowest figure among all eight regions, this time at 71.8 percent. In the first quarter of 2026, a total of 124,000 people commuted abroad for work, which was the highest number seen in the last three and a half years and up by 3.7 percent y-o-y, with the majority of the people concerned working in construction and industry. jrg/df