Romania’s unemployment rate consolidates close to almost 3-decades low

Romania’s unemployment rate (under ILO standard) slightly declined in August to 3.8 percent, consolidating close to 4 percent during the last 13 months, National Institute of Statistics (INS) data show.

Unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force, where the latter consists of the unemployed plus those in paid or self-employment.

In June, the unemployment level registered – 3.8 percent, 341,164 jobless persons – was the lowest since International Labour Organization (ILO) unemployment statistical data are available in Romania (1993).

But the rate slightly rose in July to 3.9 percent, as the number of unemployed people aged 15-74 increased to 351,603. In August, the number of unemployed people declined to 343,079 but the rate seems to consolidate close to 4 percent.

The unemployment rate among men exceeds the rate among women by 1.1 percentage point, with 4.3 percent for men and 3.2 percent for women.

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More foreign workers

In August, the Romanian government increased quotas for non-EU foreign workers in 2019 by 50 percent to 30,000 work permits, an all-time high, under the pressure of higher demand from local companies claiming they are suffering from the workforce crisis.

The authorities said that the General Inspectorate for Immigration, a branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had issued this year (until August 23) 16,540 new work permits for non-EU foreign employees.

But the demand for foreign workers is much higher, as Romanian companies requested 19,173 work permits during the period.

Employers claim it’s harder than ever to find new workers in Romania in sectors like construction works or shipbuilding and prefer to bring foreign workers.

Emigration and labour shortage in Romania put increasing pressure on employers to find skilled workers in order to expand their businesses.

The Labour Ministry claims that more than 60,000 jobs are available and the companies offering them never find workers.