registered unemployment

The registered unemployment rate is continuing to drop gradually (to 11.0% of the economically active population at the end of September 2012), albeit slightly slower than in the respective period of the last year. Lower unemployment implies also a reduced cyclical component of unemployment that slows down the subsequent reduction in unemployment. The number of unemployed registered with the State Employment Agency (SEA) (108.3 thousand) is the lowest in 3.5 years and a few thousand lower than at the beginning of 1999, when a wave of layoffs followed the Russian crisis. 

After the usual slight rise at the beginning of the year caused by seasonal factors, in March unemployment once again dropped (by 0.1 pp., to 11.7% of the economically active population). At least during the next six months, the number of the unemployed is expected to go down, with the level of registered unemployment approaching a one-digit figure.  

Registered unemployment rate has stabilized since mid-October and at the end of 2011 was 11.5% of economically active population.

Latvia is gradually losing its front-runner position in terms of EU unemployment figures. One-and-a-half years ago Latvia had the highest unemployment rate in the EU, but now, according to the results of the third quarter of 2011, it lags behind Spain, Greece, Lithuania, and Ireland.  It must also be noted that in Spain, Greece and Ireland unemployment keeps growing whereas in Latvia it has been dropping for a year and a half.

In September, the registered unemployment level in Latvia continued to drop, going down 0.2 percentage points and reaching 11.6% of the economically active population by the end of the month. The number of registered unemployed (131.7 thousand people) is currently one third less than at the peak of unemployment 18 months ago.

In June 2011 registered unemployment continued to drop sharply: in one month, it contracted for another 0.6 percentage points (to 12.6% of the economically active population). Both in absolute figures and percentagewise unemployment is dropping at a faster rate than in the corresponding period last year.

A rapid drop in registered unemployment is continuing for a second consecutive month, with registered unemployment down 0.7 percentage points (to 13.2% of the economically active population) in May. Unemployment is thus contracting faster than last year and also other post-crisis periods after the restoration of national independence. 

For the first time in the last six months a rapid drop in registered unemployment was observed in April 2011: it dropped 0.5 percentage points, reaching 13.9% of the economically active population by the end of the month. Although in April of last year, the drop in the unemployment rate was even steeper (0.6 percentage points), half of the drop then was determined by the update of the number of economically active population. This year, the update did not have a substantial effect on the overall unemployment rate.

In March 2011, the registered unemployment resumed dropping – albeit by 0.1 percentage points – reaching 14.4% of the economically active population by the end of the month. Year-on-year, the signs of recovery in the job market are in plain view – the unemployment rate is going down and the number of vacancies is up.

In February 2011 the unemployment remained unchanged at 14.5% and that indicates, for now, that the January increase by 0.2 percentage points was a one-time occurrence. Moreover, the number of first-time registrations at the State Employment agency (NVA) this year was lower than in January 2009 and January 2010, indicating that layoffs are becoming less frequent. The number of those who have lost their unemployed status is gradually dropping and that is what determines the persistence of the unemployment rate.