Jobless rate drops below 11 percent

THE NUMBER of jobless in Slovakia is the lowest since March 2009, and it is expected to continue decreasing.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

The registered unemployment rate in December 2015 amounted to 10.63 percent, down by 0.14 percentage points compared with the previous month. In annual terms, the jobless rate fell by 1.66 percentage points. The average registered unemployment rate in 2015 amounted to 11.50 percent, which is 1.29 percentage points less than in 2015, according to the data of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR).

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“If we sustain this pace, we can attack the magical 10-percent threshold as early as in the summer,” Prime Minister Robert Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

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For the first time since 1990, the number of jobless in December was not higher than that registered in November, said Labour Minister Ján Richter, as quoted by the SITA newswire. This happened also thanks to projects focused on the unemployed who are without work for more than 12 months, he added.

In absolute numbers, the number of jobless ready to take a job immediately stood at 286,825 in December 2015, down by 3,687 compared to November 2015 and by 44,908 people compared to December 2014. The average number of jobless ready to work immediately amounted to 310,220 people last year, ÚPSVaR data show.

The total unemployment rate in December 2015 was 12.40 percent, down by 0.10 percentage points in monthly terms, and by 1.45 percentage points in annual terms. The labour offices registered a total of 334,379 people, a drop of 2,652 people month-on-month, and 39,375 people year-on-year.

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The jobless rate in December 2015 decreased in all regions, except for Trnava where it rose by 0.02 percentage points. The highest jobless rate remains in Prešov Region (15.50 percent), followed by Košice Region (14.94 percent) and Banská Bystrica Region (14.39 percent), according to ÚPSVaR.

Fico emphasised that the cabinet’s aim was to focus primarily on young people below 29 years of age and the long-term unemployed, among whom are many Roma people who did not properly complete primary school. He said that the government has succeeded in matching the eurozone average for unemployment.

“We’ve done a great job,” Fico said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the Labour Ministry is carrying out “successful projects in relation to youth and the long-term unemployed and along with strong economic growth and investments contributes positively to developments in the unemployment rate”.

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