According to the latest figures from the Statistics Office SR, unemployment was down 7.7% year-on-year.
This translates as around 31,500 fewer unemployed over last year’s number, taking overall unemployment in Slovakia to 12.9% (approx. 375,600 people out of work).
However, the number of long-term unemployed increased to 244, 200 in the first quarter, meaning 26,500 more people have been out of work for more than a year than in the first quarter last year. The long-term unemployed therefore account for some 65% of all registered unemployed included in the official figures.