According to the State Employment Agency (NVA), 6.2% (57,808 persons) of economically active Latvian citizens were registered as unemployed at the end of 2019, which is 0.4% (53,783 persons) higher than the previous month, the LETA news agency reported January 10.
The catering industry is suffering from an acute worker shortage on all levels – from servers to dish washers, according to a Latvian Radio broadcast on January 2.
The Latvian government on December 10 supported the removal of several bureaucratic obstacles to hiring employees from third countries, reported the LETA newswire.
Data released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) on November 2 show that in the third quarter of 2019, compared to the third quarter of 2018, average monthly gross wages and salaries grew by 8.3 % or EUR 84, reaching EUR 1 091 for full-time work.
Employers can apply for a new employee training program until November 19, according to the State Employment Agency. This training is organized as a part of the European Social Fund “Support to the education of unemployed people” (sic) project. It's an opportunity for employers to receive grant vouchers for training necessary specialists in a workplace atmosphere by selecting and training the unemployed persons registered at the agency.
While Latvian entrepreneurs often say it's difficult to find employees in the country, Latvia still has a rather high unemployment rate and there's a big reserve of labor, said Bank of Latvia economist Uldis Rutkaste at the Latvian central bank annual conference.
On September 18th, retail chain Maxima Latvija and the Latvian Retail Employee Union (LTDA) announced they had signed a new collective work agreement after negotiations.
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia was not informed over the plan to cut unemployment benefits starting next year, said the union's deputy head Irēna Liepiņa.
The duration and amount of unemployment benefits are to be cut starting next year, said Welfare Minister Ramona Petraviča (KPV LV) appearing on LTV September 16.
Data published by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) September 13 show that, compared to the 2nd quarter of 2018, in the 2nd quarter of 2019 hourly labor costs rose by 8.9 % or 79 cents, reaching EUR 9.60. Seasonally adjusted data show increase of 7.0 %.
The number of work permits issued in Latvia to foreigners has been growing steadily, reaching 9,738 until September, or almost as much as through 2018 in total, reported LTV's De facto September 9.
Figures released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in the 2nd quarter of 2019 Latvia's unemployment rate constituted 6.4 %.
Latvia on June 13 failed to secure Rīga as the headquarters of the new European Labour Authority (ELA).
The average net wage grew to €948 a month in 2018, according to an annual survey that compares official wage statistics to employee reports. It turns out that the average real net wage is 22% higher than the figure in official data, the research says.
Existing employment promotion programs in Latvia need to be improved, with a special emphasis on returning the long-term unemployed to the labor market according to conclusions expressed by experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at a conference in Rīga April 16.
Data released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) March 18 show that in 2018 there were 22,700 job vacancies in Latvia, which is 5,700 vacancies or 33.4 % more than in 2017.
While the stereotypical image of the farmer may be a ruddy-faced son of toil and soil, in Latvia "he" is very nearly as likely to be a "she", according to data published by Eurostat January 14.
Latvia is one of the top ten countries in the world when it comes to gender equality in the workplace, according to recent research.
In the first nine months of this year 10,150 long-term unemployed people registered with the State Employment Agency (NVA) got jobs, LETA learned from NVA.
Specialists in the field of Information Technology (IT) including computer programmers, are the most in-demand employees in Latvia according to a new survey.
Flash estimates by the State Employment Agency say registered unemployment in Latvia has dropped to 6.6% in May, said the agency's head Evita Simsone in an interview with LTV May 24.
The registered unemployment level in Latvia fell to 6.7 percent this past April, which is 0.3 percentage points less than in March, according to the State Employment Agency's data.
Latvia should only seek to attract high-skilled employees at the moment, as the local job market is not yet saturated and local job shortages mean increasing focus should be put on mobility, Latvia's PM Māris Kučinskis told Latvian Radio April 5.
Compared to the 4th quarter of 2016, in the 4th quarter of 2017 hourly labour costs rose by 54 cents or 7.3 %, reaching EUR 8.02. Seasonally adjusted data show identical changes – rise of 7.3 %, according to data released March 16 by the Central Statistics Bureau (CSB).
Data released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) March 1 show that in 2017 the average gross wages and salaries for full-time work in Latvia comprised 926 euros.
Results of the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) and released February 22 show that last year, Latvia's unemployment rate constituted 8.7 %, which is 0.9 percentage points lower than in 2016.
The Latvian Cabinet of Ministers on February 20 approved the list of professions where there is a shortage of labor force in Latvia and therefore highly skilled professionals from abroad could be invited to work in Latvia.
The Cabinet of Ministers on February 13 postponed making a decision on how to attract skilled foreign professionals, saying that discussions are still needed on which separate professions to include on a list.
Latvian airline airBaltic is inviting aspiring airline pilots to apply the airline’s newly established Pilot Academy.
Wages are likely to rise at an increasing rate in Latvia next year, Swedbank said November 29 in a commentary on the issue.