Unemployment rate down to 4.2 per cent in 2018

Unemployment rate fell from 4.9 per cent in 2017 down to 4.2 per cent last year, mostly affecting graduates of lower and medium education, in the case of whom the unemployment rate accounted for 5.8 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively, according to the data the National Institute of Statistics (INS) released on Thursday. The unemployment rate for higher education graduates was 2.1 per cent. The highest unemployment rate (16.2 per cent) was recorded among the youth (15-24 years). By gender, the gap between the two unemployment rates was 1.2 percentage points (4.7 per cent for men versus 3.5 for women), and by residence areas it was 0.9 percentage points (4.7 per cent for the rural environment and 3.8 per cent for the urban areas). The long-term unemployment rate (one year or more) was 1.8 per cent, and the long-term unemployment rate (which is the percentage of persons who were unemployed for one year or more in total unemployed) was 44.1 per cent. For the young (15-24 years), the long-term unemployment rate (six months or more) was 9.3 per cent, and the long-term youth unemployment rate of 57.2 per cent. In 2018, the employment rate of the working age population (15-64 years) was 64.8 per cent, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous year. As in the previous years, the employment rate was higher in men (73.2 per cent, compared with 56.2 per cent in women), according to the INS. By residence area, the employment rate was higher in the urban areas (65.8 per cent, compared to 63.5 per cent in the rural areas). Among the population aged 20-64, the employment rate accounted for 69.9 per cent, lagging 0.1 percentage points behind the national target of 70 per cent set in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy. The employment rate of young people (15-24 years) was 24.7 per cent and that of the elderly (55-64 years) of 46.3 per cent. The highest level of the employment rate for older workers was registered among higher education graduates (88.4 per cent). Also, as much as 68.6 per cent of those with medium education were employed and only 42.6 per cent of those with a lower level of education. The employed, who recorded a higher figure from the previous year (+107 thousand persons), continued to hold the highest share (74.8 per cent) in the total active population. In 2018, the self-employed workers and unpaid family workers accounted for 24.2 per cent of the total active population. Skilled workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 18.2 per cent of the total active population. Skilled workers also represented a significant weight (16.7 per cent) in the total active population, those specialised in various fields of activity (15.4 per cent) and those in services area (15.1 per cent). Of the total employed, 22.3 per cent worked in the agricultural sector, 30 per cent in industry or constructions and 47.7 per cent in services. Non-agricultural activities accounted for 6.750 million people, with significant shares being held by those operating in the manufacturing (24.8 per cent), trade (18.4 per cent) and constructions (10 per cent). Compared to 2017, there was a decline in the number of persons employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing (-36,800 persons), constructions (-18,900 persons), public administration and defense (-16,000 persons), education (-4,700 persons), intermediaries financial and insurance (-4,300 persons), entertainment, cultural and recreational activities (-1,800 persons). The most significant increases compared to the previous year were recorded in trade (+35,200 persons), transport and storage (+18,600 persons) and hotels and restaurants (+17,500 persons). Of the total number of persons employed in 2018, 656,000 people (7.5 per cent) worked part-time. Most part-time employees worked in the agricultural sector (85.4 per cent). In 2018, the average effective working week for the main activity was 38.7 hours per week. 131,000 people also carried out secondary activities, working on average 12.8 hours per week. Romania's active population accounts for 9.069 million people, of which 8.689 million were employed and 380,000 were unemployed. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)