Unemployment falling: Part-time employment increasing

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Andrei Chertkov

According to data released by Statistics Estonia, in the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate was 5.3 per cent, 2 percentage points lower than the same period last year. This was mainly due to a rise in the number of people in part-time employment, which rose to 15.8 per cent.

“The downward trend in the unemployment rate has slowed. In the first quarter of 2023, there were 39,100 unemployed persons. This is 500 fewer than at the same time a year ago, but 300 more than in the last quarter of 2022. Compared with the same time last year, the number of people who have been unemployed for 12 months or longer has decreased the most, by 2,900 persons, whereas the number of people unemployed for less than six months has increased by 3,300,“ noted Tea Vassiljeva, an analyst at Statistics Estonia.

The unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent was two percentage points lower in the first quarter of this year than at the same time a year earlier. Compared with last year, it fell in Northern Estonia but rose in Southern and Central Estonia.

The number of people in employment continued to grow in the first quarter, mainly due to those working part-time. “In the first quarter of 2023, there were 696,600 people in the 15–74 age group who were employed. This is 21,300 more than at the same time in 2022 and 16,000 more than in the last quarter of last year. 586,400 of them worked full-time in their main job and 110,200 part-time,” Vassiljeva added.

The number and share of people in part-time employment has been growing steadily since the third quarter of 2021, reaching 15.8 per cent of all employed persons in the first quarter of 2023.

In the first quarter of 2023, there were 268,400 inactive persons, which is 4,900 more than the year before. The number of women among the inactive was 147,500, down from a year earlier, while there were 120,800 inactive men, 7,100 more than at the same time last year.

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Employment Employment Estonia Full-time Job jobs in Estonia Part-time Statistics Estonia Unemployment