Unemployment 9.7% in third quarter

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Latest data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that unemployment rate in Latvia was 9.7 percent in the third quarter of 2015, which is 0.9 percentage points less as compared to the third quarter of 2014, but with a worrying underlying increase in the number of long-term unemployed.

In the third quarter of 2015, 96,900 persons aged 15 - 74 were unemployed, which is 8,000 or 7.6 percent less than a year before. Compared to the previous quarter, unemployment rate has decreased by 0.1 percentage points.

If in the first quarter of 2015, unemployment rate in Latvia was equal to the average EU indicator (10.2 percent), while in the second quarter it was 9.5 percent, exceeding the EU average indicator by 0.3 percentage points.

The share of long-term unemployed persons who have been without work for twelve months or longer amounted to 50.6 percent of the total number of the unemployed in the third quarter of 2015. Over the year this indicator has grown by 7.9 percentage points (up from 42.7 percent in the third quarter of 2014).

Despite the fact that the total number of unemployed persons has decreased, the number of long-term unemployed persons has grown from 44,600 in the third quarter of 2014 to 48,500 in the third quarter of 2015.

In the third quarter of 2015, 12,800 or 13.2 percent of the total number of unemployed persons were aged 15-24. Over the year, the number of unemployed youth has dropped by 6,000, and its share in the total number of unemployed persons has decreased by 4.7 percentage points.

The youth unemployment rate was 16.2 percent, 5.2 percentage points less than in the third quarter of 2014 (21.4 percent). In the third quarter of 2015, 39.9 percent of all people aged 15 - 24 were active - employed or seeking a job (unemployed). 60.1 percent of youth were inactive, mostly still studying and not seeking a job.

In the third quarter of 2015, almost one-third of the population (32 percent or 470,600) aged 15 to 74 years were inactive - neither employed, nor actively seeking a job. Compared to the third quarter of 2014, the number of inactive population has decreased by 31,500 or 6.3 percent.

Within the framework of the Statistical Bureau's Labor Force Survey, 3,800 households were surveyed in the third quarter of 2015, interviewing 7,200 persons aged 15 -74.

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