Unemployment measured by the share of available jobseekers of working age in the working-age population rose from 3.88 percent in November to 4.09 percent in December, with the year-on-year increase in unemployment being even slightly higher, standing at 3.81 percent in December 2024, the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre reported on Wednesday.
The total number of registered jobseekers reached 172,707 at the end of last month.
According to analysts, the figures for December 2025 were influenced by an adjustment in unemployment benefits. "In our view, this caused a shift in timing concerning registrations at labour offices rather than a sudden increase in job losses. Unemployed people who would under standard circumstances have registered only in January appeared in the records as early as in December, temporarily distorting both the year-on-year and month-on-month picture of unemployment trends," said the Social Policy Institute.
Analysts at the institute expect only a muted increase in unemployment in January, or possibly stagnation. If current trends are maintained, the number of people without work could decline slightly in February and March.
The decline in the number of unemployed school-leavers continued in the final month of 2025. A total of 7,067 jobseekers who had completed secondary education were registered, 298 fewer than in November. The number of unemployed university graduates fell by 208 month-on-month to 1,552.
Source: TASR
