Unemployment rate down to 6.0 percent in third quarter

The unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points (p.p.) in the third quarter of this year when compared to the same period of 2021, falling to 6.0 percent, the Statistics Office reported on Friday. The number of unemployed amounted to 167,900 in 3Q22, going down by 10.6 percent year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of unemployed continued to fall for the fifth quarter in a row.
However, the number of long-term unemployed continued to grow, with those unemployed for one year or more reaching 111,000 in the third quarter of 2022, rising by 10 percent y-o-y. The proportion of long-term unemployed reached 66.1 percent of all job-seekers in July-September of this year. Short-term unemployment fell by one quarter from the year before, standing at 57,100 people in the third quarter of 2022. The highest number of unemployed worked most recently in the sectors of industry, trade and construction. More than 29 percent of job-seekers haven't ever worked before. This group also includes new graduates.
The number of unemployed decreased in all regions of Slovakia in 3Q22, with the most significant y-o-y drops posted by Trnava (33.4 percent) and Zilina regions (27.5 percent). Presov and Banska Bystrica regions reported the highest unemployment rates of some 10 percent, followed by Kosice region (9 percent). Meanwhile, the lowest unemployment rates were posted in Bratislava region (2.1 percent) and Trencin and Zilina regions (below 4 percent each). (TASR)