Fewer job vacancies

426,012 people without a job at the end of December

(Bild: Schöndorfer Karl/Karl Schöndorfer TOPPRESS)

At the end of December 2024, 426,012 people were looking for a job, which is 27,007 more than at the end of 2023. 352,873 were unemployed at the end of the year, 73,139 people were on AMS training courses. The unemployment rate at the end of December was 8.3 percent, while there was a record number of people in employment. 

The average unemployment rate for 2024 was 7 percent, while the average for the past ten years - including the coronavirus pandemic - was 8 percent.

Compared to 2023, unemployment among women rose more sharply at 15,095 than among men, who saw an increase of 11,912. At the end of December, 112,528 people aged 50 and over were registered as unemployed or in training with the AMS. Youth unemployment stood at 67,658 people.

Employment record, but number of job vacancies falling
With 3,912,000 people in employment, there was a record number of people in employment at the end of 2024. The number has increased by 11,000 since the beginning of the previous year. However, the number of vacancies registered with the AMS fell slightly to 80,740. The average figure for 2014-2024 was 63,396 at the end of each year.

"The rise in unemployment is slowing down. In addition, the current data shows that the unemployment rate is at a lower level than at the end of 2019, when the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent - before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," explained Minister of Labor and Economy Martin Kocher (ÖVP) on Thursday. The Austrian labor market is resisting the weak global growth.

Rise in unemployment figures slowed slightly
Together with the AMS, the government has focused on training and further education measures, enabling over 270,000 people to gain higher qualifications in 2024. "Thanks to the second-largest per capita budget for active labor market policy, the framework conditions for rapid and effective training and further education for unemployed people were in place in 2024," said Kocher. He pointed out that unemployment rose by an average of 33,121 people year-on-year in the first quarter, while the fourth quarter of the year saw the smallest increase in the number of people registered with the AMS, with an increase of 30,390 people.