site.btaUnemployment Registered at 6.9% in First Quarter of 2017

Unemployment Registered at 6.9% in First Quarter of 2017

Sofia, May 15 (BTA) - Bulgaria had 224,400 unemployed people in the first quarter of 2017, putting the unemployment rate at 6.9 per cent, the National Statistical Institute reported on Monday.

Compared with the first quarter of 2016, unemployed people decreased by 55,200 and the unemployment rate dropped by 1.7 percentage points.

The decrease in joblessness was more prominent among men. In the first quarter of 2017 the unemployment rate for men was 6.8 per cent, and for women 6.9 per cent. There were 119,000 jobless men (53 per cent of the total) and 105,400 jobless women (47 per cent).

Some 12.5 per cent of unemployed people were with higher education, 48.7 per cent with secondary education, and 38.8 per cent with primary or lower education.

Also in the first quarter of 2017 there were 122,200 lastingly unemployed people (people who had had no job for a year or more), accounting for 54.4 per cent of all jobless persons. The rate of lasting unemployment was 3.7 per cent, decreasing by 1.1 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2016. The rate among men was 3.9 per cent, and among women 3.6 per cent.

Thirty-three thousand unemployed people (14.7 per cent) were looking for a first job.

Among persons aged between 15 and 29 years the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2017 was 10.8 per cent (11.1 per cent for men and 10.4 per cent for women), down by 3.1 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2016 (with men, the decrease was 4.7 percentage points, and with women, 0.7 points).

In April 2017, the Employment Agency registered unemployment at 7.6 per cent, decreasing by 0.4 percentage points compared with March 2017 and by 1.7 points compared with April 2016, the Agency's press office reported.

In April 2017 there were 249,464 unemployed people registered at job centres, down by 12,307 compared with March 2017 and falling by 55,698 (18.3 per cent) compared with April 2016.

A total of 25,243 unemployed persons started work in April 2017, including 21,697 persons who found jobs on the primary labour market and 3,564 persons who were given subsidized jobs. The latter group included 1,847 people hired under programmes and measures pursuant to the Employment Promotion Act and 1,699 people supported by Operational Programme "Human Resources Development."

The month in review saw 22,970 job vacancies on the primary labour market posted at job centres, increasing by 1.7 per cent (380 positions) compared with March 2017. These included 18,587 job vacancies in the private sector, accounting for 80.9 per cent of all vacancies on the primary labour market.