site.btaUnemployment Rate Slows Down in September

The unemployment rate in Bulgaria slowed down to 5.2% in September, the latest Employment Agency data show. At the end of the month, 147,196 people were listed as unemployed, down by 3,513 compared to August.

A total of 14,022 started new jobs in September, up by nearly 2,500, or 21%, month on month. The data show that 864 retirees, students, and employed persons found work through job centres. The number of job vacancies on the primary market increased to 9,614 in September. In the real economy, the largest number of vacancies were in education (27.4%), followed by manufacturing (24.1%), trade (11%), public administration (9.2%), administrative and support activities (6.3%) and hospitality (6.1%), the Employment Agency said.

As a result of the work of Roma and youth mediators, 3,400 people entered the labour market in September.

Representatives of at-risk groups who found employment through subsidized jobs totalled 1,334. Of these, 618 started work under employment programmes and measures financed by the state budget, and 716 under projects of the Human Resources Development Programme 2021 – 2027, co-financed by the European Social Fund +. In September, more than 11,900 training vouchers were issued both for employed and unemployed.

The most in-demand occupations in September were teachers, care personnel, salespeople, operators of machine and stationary equipment, personal services workers, domestic workers, business and administration professionals, and waste collectors, to name but a few.

Twenty job fairs will be held across the country in October, the Employment Agency’s website said.