369,640 without a job

Unemployment rate rises to 6.9 percent

The unemployment rate in Austria rose by 6.9 percent in March compared to the same period last year.

(Bild: P. Huber)

The unemployment rate in Austria rose by 6.9 percent in March compared to the same period last year. At the end of last month, 369,640 people were registered with the AMS, 291,468 of whom were registered as unemployed.

According to the Public Employment Service, 78,172 people were taking part in training measures. Although unemployment is falling due to seasonal factors, the trend is "particularly bad", said AMS boss Johannes Kopf. Austria is apparently still in recession. Companies had lost competitiveness due to inflation and in some cases also had excess personnel capacity. "Even if growth comes, unemployment will probably only fall after a delay."

For comparison: in the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 6.2 percent. In March 2019, i.e. before the coronavirus pandemic began, the unemployment rate was 7.5%.

Here you can see a chart on unemployment in detail.

Older people have more jobs
According to Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP), one positive aspect is that more older employees aged 60 and over have a job. In addition, the length of time spent unemployed has fallen by four days within a year. Those who are registered as unemployed are currently unemployed for an average of 104 days. Unemployment in March rose particularly among people with non-Austrian citizenship, men and young people under the age of 25 (see chart above).

In terms of federal states, unemployment in March was particularly high in Vienna (11.3 percent), followed at a considerable distance by Carinthia (7.8 percent). Tyrol (3.7 percent) and Salzburg (3.8 percent) have the lowest rates.

According to the minister, 184,811 jobs were unfilled in March, particularly in the electrical installation and chef sectors. Criticism of the development came from the Chamber of Labor, the FPÖ and the SPÖ, among others. "Everyone is now paying the price for the government's inaction against record inflation twice and three times over in the form of record prices, recession and unemployment," SPÖ social spokesperson Josef Muchitsch is quoted as saying in a press release.