The number of lasting unemployed people or residents who are unable to find a job for 12 months or more is on a rise in Latvia, the State Employment Agency’s Customers Services Management and Development Office senior expert Andris Maskalovs has said.
“An increase is observed for the total number. This tendency is expected to continue,” said Maskalovs, adding that the existing number of lasting unemployed people registered with NVA pointed to the possibility of their numbers increasing in the future.
According to the latest data, at the end of February there were 74,494 unemployed people registered with NVA. This includes 37,287 people who remained unemployed for six months, 18,623 remained without a job for six to twelve months, 13,072 remained without a job for a period of one to three years and 5,512 residents remained without a job for a period of three or more years.
As previously reported, the unemployment level in Latvia was at 8.2% of economically active population at the end of February, up by 0.2% MoM.
The lowest level of registered unemployment at the end of February was observed in Riga region – 6.1%, up by 0.1%, whereas the highest level of registered unemployment remained in Latgale region – 16.5%, showing the most rapid increase among regions in one month’s time – 0.5%.
The registered level of unemployment in Zemgale increased by 0.2%, reaching 8% of economically active population, in Vidzeme – by 0.3%, reaching 8.3%, in Kurzeme – by 0.4%, reaching 9%.
In Riga the level of registered unemployment remained unchanged in February, remaining a 5.9% of economically active population. (BNN/Business World Magazine)