The labour market mismatch is unlikely to ease in the coming years, with ageing and a gradual decline in the economically active population continuing to worsen it further, stated UniCredit Bank analyst Lubomir Koršňák in a commentary on unemployment data for June published by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVaR) on Monday (20 July).
"Statistics from recent months are still indicating a two-speed domestic labour market. As a whole, the domestic labour market remains relatively tight, which should slow down any increase in the unemployment rate in the coming months as well, largely at the expense of job vacancies," he explained.
Due to structural imbalances both in terms of regions and skills, a temporary rise in the unemployment rate will continue to be driven by more widespread lay-offs in certain sectors and regions, as seen in June, noted Koršňák.
Analysts from Slovakia's central bank (NBS) pointed out that a record number of people registered at labour offices in June due to mass redundancies, with most of them coming from western Slovakia.
"The number of foreign workers rose again after last month's decline, even though it was only a moderate increase. Given the ongoing risks of further looming mass lay-offs, this remains a relatively favourable trend, although demand for labour remains rather attenuated for now," said NBS analysts.
UPSVaR reported on Monday (20 July) that the proportion of job-seekers of working age available to work set against the working-age population reached 3.97 percent in June of this year, rising by 0.06 percentage points month-on-month. It added that the number of available job-seekers of working age registered with labour, social affairs and the family offices stood at 142,868 at the end of June, which was 1,928 more than in May 2026.
Source: TASR
