Ján Richter and Peter Pellegrini (source: TASR/Jakub Kotian)
For the first time in history, the unemployment rate in Slovakia dropped below 5 percent.
The registered unemployment rate accounted for 4.9 percent in April, down by 0.13 percentage points compared with the previous month. In annual terms, the number of jobless ready to take jobs immediately fell by 0.52 percentage points, as stems from the data presented by the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR).
“This is something that has never happened in Slovakia before,” said PM Peter Pellegrini (Smer), as quoted by the SITA newswire. “I see government’s responsible economic policy behind it, as well as the social measures adopted by the Labour Ministry and the employees who create vacancies.”
Slovakia is successful not only in decreasing the unemployment rate but also in increasing real wage, decreasing the number of citizens who obtain welfare benefits and decreasing the number of long-term unemployed, he added.
Thanking employers
The drop in unemployment rate is a result of the work of the whole government, said Labour Minister Ján Richter (Smer). He also thanked all employers who give a job to people.
“From the beginning of the year, the number of employees increased by 22,000,” he said, as quoted by SITA.
The minister welcomes the fact that almost 40 percent of anyone unemployed who found a job in the last month were long-term unemployed, so for more than one year.
The labour offices recorded 134,790 job applicants at the end of April, down by 3,172 people month-on-month. In annual terms, the number of job applicants ready to start a job dropped by 14,821 people.
Problems with filling vacancies
Currently, about one-third of Slovak districts registers the unemployment rate below 2 percent. At the same time, there were more than 91,000 vacancies in April.
For most local companies, it is a major problem finding people. Due to the lack of staffers, many companies sign an agreement with job applicants if they show interest in work, the Pravda daily reported.
Moreover, an increasing number of companies are giving chances to the long-term unemployed and Roma, Pravda wrote.
