Analysis: The pandemic cost around 74,000 jobs in Austria
Around 74,000 jobs were lost in Austria due to Corona. The unemployment rate has also risen and is still below the pre-crisis level. The consultant EY announced this with reference to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Before the crisis, employment in Austria and in the euro area as a whole rose continuously, according to the analysis. It was only with the outbreak of the pandemic that unemployment rose significantly across the euro area. In Austria, the unemployment rate rose – according to international standards – on an annual average from 4.8 percent in 2019 to 6.3 percent in the previous year. For this year, EY expects the situation to improve: The unemployment rate is expected to be 5.3 percent.
In the euro zone, the number of people in employment fell by 1.5 percent in the first year of the pandemic, 2020. That corresponds to around 2.5 million jobs lost. In the previous year, however, the number of people in employment rose again by 1.3 million. For this year, EY is expecting employment growth of 1.2 percent and thus a record level among employees.
The ILO survey method differs from the national calculations carried out by the AMS in Austria. The last unemployment figures reported by the AMS are higher than those described here.