Unemployment in Slovenia is the lowest in history, but the trend is likely to reverse – EURACTIV.com
The number of unemployed people in Slovenia has fallen to the lowest level since independence in June 1991, according to data from the employment office.
At the end of September, only 52,043 unemployed persons were registered, which is 3.5% less on a monthly basis and 21.3% less on an annual basis.
The country also boasts one of the lowest survey unemployment rates in the EU – it was 4.1 percent in August, which is almost two percentage points below the EU average.
Nevertheless, there are signs that the labor market is cooling, as employers reported only 15,122 vacancies to the employment agency in September, which is 14% less than in August and 2.5% less than last September.
The director general of the employment agency, Mitja Bobnar, expects the number of unemployed to exceed 60,000 at the end of the year. If energy and other commodity prices continue to rise, the figure could be much higher, he said on Wednesday.
Although it is still too early to say what additional price increases or a lack of raw materials could mean for the labor market, Bobnar said that the industries most at risk are those whose costs are largely dependent on energy products.
If the situation were to worsen, unemployment could jump, “and here we can talk about thousands, even tens of thousands,” he said.
He pointed to subsidized short-time working and holiday schemes as a means of helping businesses stay in business without having to lay off workers. In the past, around 250,000 jobs were protected in this way, said Bobnarjeva.
(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)