Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
In annual terms, the number of the unemployed fell by 1.24 percentage points, the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR) informed.
“August 2015 is the 40th month in which this government has been actively influencing the situation on the labour market,” said Labour Minister Ján Richter, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Since the unemployment rate has decreased 27 months, stagnated one month and increased 12 of the 40 months, Richter claimed that it confirms “that the measures adopted have been bringing positive results”.
“The trend of a continuous decline in unemployment and an increase in new jobs is becoming established,” the minister added, as quoted by TASR.
In total numbers, the labour offices registered 305,187 unemployed in August, down by 3,923 people month-on-month and down by 33,638 people year-on-year.
The unemployment rate calculated from the total number of jobseekers in August reached 12.86 percent, which is 0.18 percentage points less than in July, and 1.25 percentage points less than in August 2014, according to ÚPSVaR. The total number of jobseekers registered at labour offices was 346,971 in August.
The jobless rate dropped in monthly terms in all regions of Slovakia, except for Bratislava.
Compared to the previous months the drop in unemployment rate has, however, slowed down. The number of people who found new work in August was the lowest since last May, said Ľubomír Koršňák, analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“The current slow-down of the labour market may be linked with the worse mood of Slovak industry, which has been negatively affected by re-escalation of the Greek debt crisis or the concerns from a slow-down in the Chinese economy,” Koršňák wrote in the memo, adding that this may have resulted in companies being more careful when hiring new people.
Since the number of new positions has been increasing (3,500 new offers were added in August), the reason for the slower drop in unemployment may also be the gradual using up of appropriate qualified labour force, Koršňák said.
However, he expects that the new jobs will be increasing in coming months and that the unemployment rate will continue decreasing.
