Nevertheless, there are still plenty of jobs to be filled: in the private sector there were 12.8 thousand and in the public sector 11.1 thousand vacant jobs. Over the year, the number of job vacancies in private sector fell by 1.5 thousand or 10.7 % and in public sector grew by 0.1 thousand or 1.1 %.
Out of all jobs available in Latvia (both occupied and vacant), 2.6 % positions were vacant.
Compared to Q2 2023, in Q2 2024, the average number of occupied posts in the country went down by 5.2 thousand or 0.6 %. In the private sector it dropped by 6.6 thousand or 1.1 % and in the public sector it grew by 1.4 thousand or 0.5 %.
In terms of major occupational groups, the largest share of job vacancies was recorded among technicians and associate professionals (4.5 %), craft and related trades workers (3.7 %), as well as elementary occupations (2.8 %).
Regional breakdown of the Q2 2024 data shows the largest share of vacant jobs in Riga (3.3 % or 20.2 thousand) and the smallest in Vidzeme and Kurzeme (1.1 % or 0.9 thousand and 1.0 % or 0.9 thousand, respectively). In Zemgale region 1.5 % of jobs or 1.0 thousand positions were vacant and in Latgale 1.3 % or 0.9 thousand.
Among the three Baltic states, the greatest proportion of job vacancies was recorded in Latvia – 2.6 % – followed by Lithuania with 2.1 % and Estonia with 1.6 %. Over the year, the number of vacant jobs in Lithuania grew by 3.3 % while in Latvia and Estonia reduced by 5.6 % and 10.6 %, respectively.
