Analysts: Unemployment at All-time Low, But Twice as High as among Neighbours

Bratislava, December 3 (TASR) - Unemployment in Slovakia stands at an all-time low, but still above the Visegrad Four-level (V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and twice as much as it is in the Czech Republic and Poland, stated the Finance Ministry's Financial Policy Institute (IFP) on Tuesday. "The unemployment rate stagnated at 5.3 percent. The number of jobless went down by only 700 in comparison to the second quarter, yet in proportion to the economically active population it remains at its lowest level for the past 30 years. On the other hand, the unemployment rate in Slovakia remains above the rates seen in V4 neighbouring countries and equals even double that of the rates in the Czech Republic and Poland. Furthermore, the share of people who have been jobless for more than a year is among the highest in the EU," claimed IFP. Salary growth has slowed down beyond the expectations of the institute, decelerating across all sectors. Public sector employees saw their salaries grow by 6.6 percent, while in the education sector they went up by 9 percent, and in industry by 7.5 percent. On the contrary, salary growth in services dropped below 5 percent. "We expected higher salaries particularly in low-qualification services. Real salaries grew by 3 percent and lagged behind their 2021 peak by more than 2 percent," said the institute. mf/df