Estonia's registered unemployment unchanged on year at 5.1 pct in January

TALLINN – The number of registered unemployed in Estonia was 30,099 at the end of January, making up 5.1 percent of the total number of workforce from age 16 to retirement age, unchanged from the same month the year before.

Compared with December, unemployment rose by 0.3 percentage points in the first month of 2019. The number of newly unemployed persons registered in January was 7,150, it appears from figures published by the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

At the end of January, the rate of registered unemployment was highest in East-Viru County with 9.4 percent, followed by Valga County with 8.5 percent and Voru County with 8 percent. The lowest rate of unemployment was registered in Hiiu and Saare counties with the indicator at 3.7 percent in both counties.

Of the registered unemployed, 10,351 people, or nearly a third, were persons with reduced capacity for work.

In January, 4,176 new offers were added to the job offers available via the Unemployment Insurance Fund, while the total number of job offers was 6,991.

Statistics on registered unemployment reflect the number of unemployed persons who have registered as jobless with the Unemployment Insurance Fund.