Unemployment rate soars to 8.1 percent in Q1

Romania’s unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in the first quarter this year, up from 7.5 percent in the previous quarter and 6.9 percent in the same period of last year. Out of a total of 9.72 million active citizens, 8.83 million were in work, while 787,000 were jobless, according to International Labor Organization criteria.

The employment rate of the working age population (between 15 and 64 years old) reached 57 percent in the first quarter of 2010, 0.4 down from the previous quarter and the first three months of 2009. Defining the working age population as those between 20 and 64, the figure rises to 61.6 percent, still 7.4-8.4 percent below the national target of 69-70 percent proposed in the Europe 2020 strategy. In urban areas, joblessness reached 9.9 percent, while among the active rural population 5.8 percent were out of work.

Under International Labor Organization Criteria, unemployed people are defined as those aged between 15 and 74 years who meet the following conditions: they have no job, are available to start work in the next two weeks and have been actively looking for a position for the past four weeks.

Corina Dumitrescu

Read more about

Air Show in Bucharest on Saturday for Aviation Day: dozens of military aircraft to fly over Aviatorilor Square

read more