The rate has been growing since the Q3 2023; over the quarter it went up by 0.4 percentage points and over the year by 0.8 percentage points.
In Q1 2024 there were 68.7 thousand unemployed persons aged 15–74 (incl.), which is 8.9 thousand more than a year ago and 4.5 thousand more than in the previous quarter.
In Q4 2023 Latvian unemployment rate (6.8 %) was 0.7 percentage points above the EU average (6.1 %). In Q1 2024 it was lower than in Estonia (7.8 %) and Lithuania (8.2 %).
In Q1 2024, slightly more than a half of unemployed persons or 36.7 thousand did not have a job for up to five months, which is 2.8 thousand more than a year ago and 2.5 thousand more than in the previous quarter. Persons unemployed for 6–11 months accounted for 11.2 thousand – the number has grown by 2.4 thousand over the year and reduced by 1.1 thousand over the quarter.
In Q1 2024 there were 20.5 thousand long-term unemployed persons, which is a rise of 3.4 thousand over the year and of 3.5 thousand over the quarter. The share of long-term unemployed in the total number of unemployed persons was 30.0 %, which is 1.5 percentage points more than a year ago and 3.2 percentage points more than in the previous quarter.
In Q1 2024 young people (aged 15–24) accounted for 11.4 % of all unemployed persons. The share has gone down by 3.0 percentage points over the year and by 2.1 percentage points over the quarter.
Out of all young people, 35.1 % were economically active (i.e., employed or actively looking for a job (unemployed)), while 64.9 % inactive (mostly still in education and not looking for job).
In Q1 2024 almost a third of the population aged 15–74 (31.1 % or 427.3 thousand people) was inactive, i.e., was neither in employment, nor actively looking for a job. Over the quarter inactive population reduced by 3.1 thousand people or 0.7 % while over the year by 14.2 thousand people or 3.2 %.
Data also show that in Latvia 879.9 thousand people aged 15–74 were employed in Q1 2024. Compared to Q4 2023, the employment rate has not changed and stayed stable at 64.0 %.
In the age group 75–89 there were 6.2 thousand employed persons (3.8 %) in Q1 2024. The statistics in this news release covers people aged 15–74 (incl.).
During the year employment rate stayed rather stable – it grew by 0.3 percentage points compared to Q1 2023. The number of employed persons went up by 2.2 thousand over the last quarter.
In Q1 2024, employment rate for men was 4.7 percentage points higher than for women – 66.4 % and 61.7 %, respectively.
Employees accounted for 86.7 % of the employed persons in Q1 2024, self-employed for 7.7 %, employers for 4.9 %, and unpaid workers in a family enterprise or private practice just for 0.7 %.
Though Latvian employment rate is above the EU average (61.5 % in Q4 2023), in Q1 2024 it was the lowest among the Baltic countries (68.4 % in Estonia and 64.7 % in Lithuania).
