site.btaJobless Rate in 2014: 11.2 Per Cent. Measures to Reduce Unemployment in 2015

ESD 14:47:00 13-01-2015
SN1446ES.109
109 ECONOMY - UNEMPLOYMENT - STATISTICS amplified

Jobless Rate in 2014: 11.2 Per Cent.
Measures to Reduce
Unemployment in 2015


Sofia, January 13 (BTA) - Bulgaria's unemployment rate in 2014
was 11.2 per cent, a fraction below the level of 2013, National
Employment Agency Executive Director Asen Angelov told a news
conference here on Tuesday.

The decrease was achieved thanks to a more effective performance
of job placement intermediaries in the real sector of the
labour market, despite a substantial contraction of subsidized
employment.

The number of people included in subsidized employment in 2014
declined by 37,000 compared to 2013. Monthly labour office
registrations averaged 366,470 in 2014. The number decreased
compared to 2013, which was only the second such case since the
crisis broke out in 2009, Angelov pointed out.

For the first time since 1991, unemployment in December 2014
declined from November by 0.1 percentage points to 10.7 per
cent. In December 2013, the unemployment rate was 11.8 per cent.

The only similar case of a month-on-month decrease of
unemployment in December was in 2002, but then the National
Programme "From Welfare to Employment" was implemented on a
pilot basis during the last quarter of the year and a number of
jobless people were included in subsidized employment.

People out of work decreased by over 50,000 in early 2014. By
comparison, the number in December 2013 was by 5,500 lower than
at the beginning of the year. These results were achieved
despite a deep cut in financing for subsidized employment,
Angelov commented. In 2014, some 37,000 fewer people were
included in measures and schemes financed by the national budget
and EU funds.

A total of 351,051 persons were registered at the labour offices
in December, 2,553 fewer than in November 2014.

In December 2013, the unemployed were 10,407 more than in
December 2012, 9,616 more than in November 2013, and as many as
35,126 more than in December 2014.

The Agency counted 25,000 persons aged under 24 who registered
as unemployed in December 2014, representing 7.1 per cent of the
jobless total, down 1,080 from November 2014 and 9,221 fewer
than in December 2013. Registered persons aged under 29 numbered
58,771 in December 2014, accounting for 16.7 per cent of the
jobless total. They were 1,608 fewer than in November 2014 and
14,706 fewer than in December 2013.

The unemployed aged over 50 decreased by 649 in December to
134,749, but Angelov said this group still faces problems
finding a job.

The Executive Director would not commit himself to a projection
of a substantial decline of unemployment in the coming months.

Until the end of January, the National Employment Agency will
prepare and present a package of measures for reduction of
unemployment in 2015, Angelov told the news conference. Among
his Agency's priorities for this year, he listed a more accurate
and flexible allocation of funding for training and
qualification on the basis of analyses of local markets and
their needs. Job placement intermediaries will apply a
case-by-case approach and will coach the unemployed to present
their training and accomplishments.

The Agency will also prioritize the vulnerable groups:
unemployed aged over 50, uneducated and very low-skilled young
people, and disabled unemployed, Angelov said.

More than 188,000 people started work in the real economy in
2014, 21,000 more than in 2013, Angelov said.

In his words, labour offices enjoy growing trust and demand for
labour in the real sector through their intermediation is
increasing, he pointed out. Nearly 161,000 job vacancies were
announced in 2014, 22,000 more than in 2013. Last year saw the
largest increase of job vacancies announced at labour offices
since the start of the crisis. The number of these vacancies
exceeded both the 2009 and the pre-crisis levels. Those whom the
labour offices helped to find work in the real economy in 2014
were by 21,000-plus more than in 2013 and by 55,500-plus more
than in 2009.

The labour market stabilized in 2013, Angelov reported.
According to figures released by the National Statistical
Institute, employment has been growing since the beginning of
2014, including on an annual basis, and unemployment has been
falling.

Some of the vulnerable groups, and especially the long-term
unemployed, those aged over 50 and the disabled, still account
for a significant proportion, he commented. In his words, active
labour market policies do not reach effectively the most
vulnerable groups.

The mismatch between labour supply and labor demand persisted in
2014. VI, LI/LG


/СН/