Compared to the same month last year, the number of unemployed and AMS training participants increased by 9.8 percent or 31,497 people, the Ministry of Labor and AMS announced on Monday.
“The unemployment rate was 6.7 percent at the end of August – that is still the third lowest unemployment rate in the last ten years,” said Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) commenting on the current labor market data at a press conference in Vienna. However, the labor market is “still relatively stable despite economic challenges.” The situation is “not so easy” for an export-oriented economy like Austria, because Germany, among others, is weakening, said Kocher.
“Significant industrial recession”
At the end of August, the largest increase in the number of unemployed people and people in AMS training compared to the same month last year was in goods production/industry (+16.6 percent), construction (+12.9 percent), transport and warehousing (+12.2 percent), trade (+12 percent) and catering and accommodation (+10.1 percent). The increase in unemployment in temporary employment (+9 percent) and in health and social services (+8 percent) was somewhat lower, but still strong. “Austria is currently in a significant industrial recession,” said AMS board member Johannes Kopf in a written statement. “Unfortunately, there is no immediate prospect of stronger stimulus from the global economy, nor do our leading indicators show an imminent upturn here.”
Strong increase in Upper Austria
The most significant increase in unemployment and training participants was recorded in Tyrol (+16.1 percent), Upper Austria (+15.5 percent), Salzburg (+14.9 percent) and Styria (+14.1 percent). The smallest increase was in Carinthia and Burgenland (+5.7 percent each) and Vienna (+7.7 percent).
According to the Ministry of Labor, the number of dependently employed people is at an all-time high of over 4 million. Never before have so many people been employed at the end of August, said the Labor Minister. The number of vacancies reported to the AMS as immediately available fell by 15 percent to just under 93,000 due to the economic situation. The ÖVP Economic Association records all job portals in its job monitor and recorded over 160,600 vacancies.
