Compared to the first quarter, labor market indicators have improved, but they are still lower than in the second quarter of the previous year. Tea Vassiljeva, an analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the unemployment rate in the second quarter was 7.8%. This was slightly higher than last year but lower than in the first quarter of this year.
The unemployment rate for men in the second quarter was 8.4%, while for women it was 7.2%. There were a total of 59,200 unemployed persons, which is 5,000 fewer than in the previous quarter. Among the unemployed, there were 32,300 men and 26,800 women. The number of unemployed decreased in all regions except Ida-Viru County.
The number of employed persons in the second quarter was 697,300. This is 9,200 fewer than last year but 15,700 more than in the first quarter. There were 351,700 employed men and 345,600 employed women. The number of men increased compared to last year, while the number of women decreased.
The number of employed persons increased primarily in Harju County. Growth was also seen in Western Estonia and Southern Estonia. In Ida-Viru County, the number of employed persons decreased. The number of employed persons decreased in all sectors compared to the previous year. A slight increase was observed in agriculture and industry.
The youth unemployment rate was high at 25.4%. This is 2.8 percentage points higher than last year. The number of employed youth decreased by 4,600. The employment rate of young women fell particularly sharply.
The number of people not participating in the labor force decreased, especially among men. For women, it remained almost unchanged. The labor force participation rate was 74.8%, which is lower than last year but higher than in the first quarter of this year.