By: Nina Žoher /Nova24tv
The number of registered unemployed persons in Slovenia fell for the second time in a row on a monthly basis in March. Data from the Employment Service show that 82,638 unemployed persons were registered in March, which is 6.1 percent less than a month earlier. In March, 4,569 unemployed people registered at the institute, which is 4.1 percent less than in February and 41.8 percent less than in March last year. Proof that the government is doing well and taking effective measures is visible in the recent Eurostat data, which shows in black and white that Slovenia ranks among the countries where unemployment is among the lowest in the European Union.
In the first quarter, 87,396 persons were registered at the institute, which represents an annual growth of 11.5%. Among the new jobseekers, who numbered 4,569 in March, there were 478 who applied as first-time job seekers. At the expense of fixed-term employment 2196 became unemployed, 75 due to bankruptcies, and 913 because of redundancies.
Compared to the previous month, the number of newly registered first-time jobseekers increased by 19.8 percent in March, while the number of unemployed at the expense of bankruptcies increased by 78.6 percent. According to the Employment Service, there were 11.8 percent fewer unemployed due to a contract for a certain period of time, and 10.9 percent fewer who became unemployed due to redundancies. Compared to March last year, there were 6.2 percent more newly registered first-time job seekers, while according to the STA there was a decrease in registered people unemployed due to redundancies (-62.6 percent), the unemployed due to bankruptcies (-27.2 percent), and the unemployed due to contract expiration (-33.9 percent).
7971 persons out of 9982 unemployed persons who were deregistered from the unemployment register in March became self-employed. That is 19.7 percent more people than a month earlier and as much as 32.1 percent more people than in March last year. The institute states that among those who were re-employed, most were contractors of drywall construction, salesmen, masons, cleaners, servers, servers and domestic helpers, etc., in offices, hotels and other establishments, workers for simple works in manufacturing, secretaries, workers for simple works in civil engineering, waiters, storekeepers, and purchasing and sales officers.
Unemployment in Slovenia is among the lowest in the EU
Judging by Eurostat data, it can be understood that Slovenia ranks among the countries where unemployment is among the lowest in the European Union. Namely, it is one of the seven most successful countries in the European Union. Data for February show that Slovenia had a 4.9 percent unemployment rate, while the unemployment rate on the EU level was 7.5 percent.
Only Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Malta, Germany, and Hungary are better than Slovenia. Thus countries with a higher unemployment are the neighbouring Austria with 5.7% unemployment, as well as neighbouring Croatia with 7.1% unemployment, and Italy with 10.2% unemployment.
In January, February, and March this year, 19,845 unemployed persons registered with the institute, which is 18.4 percent less compared to the same period last year. Most of the persons registered as unemployed lost their jobs due to temporary employment (11,337). 1364 were those who were looking for their first job, and 4154 were those who became unemployed after they became redundant or the company went bankrupt. Compared to the same period last year, there was 19.5 percent fewer first-time job seekers, 13.5 percent fewer unemployed after the end of fixed-term employment, and 22.7 percent fewer redundant workers and bankrupts registered at the institute.
According to the institute, 24,490 unemployed persons deregistered from the register of the unemployed. 19,239 of them due to employment, which is 16.1 percent more than in the same period last year. As in February, unemployment decreased in March compared to the previous month in all regional services of the institute. This is especially noticeable in Murska Sobota (-9.1 percent). The following regional services followed in terms of the size of the decline: Ptuj (-7.9 percent), Sevnica (-7.5 percent), Velenje (-7.3 percent), Kranj (-7.1 percent), Celje (-6, 7 percent), Maribor (-6.4 percent), Novo mesto (-6.3 percent), Trbovlje (-5.8 percent), Ljubljana (-4.8 percent), Koper (-4.5 percent) and Nova Gorica (-4.4 percent).