Estonia’s labour market strengthens as registered unemployment falls

Estonia’s labour market showed signs of strengthening in the third quarter, with an average of 38,000 registered unemployed people, ERR reported. That was 5,600 fewer than a year earlier, a 13% decline.

Registered unemployed people accounted for 5.5% of the working-age labour force, down from 6.3% a year earlier. The total has stayed below 40,000 for two consecutive quarters. It was last this low in the first quarter of 2020.

Estonia’s employment service, Töötukassa, had an average of 5,250 vacancies to offer during the quarter, more than a quarter higher than a year earlier. Vacancies grew most in manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical activities, trade, and construction.

Brit Rammul, a member of Töötukassa’s management board, said the figures pointed to a modest improvement. However, job prospects varied considerably by sector and continued to depend on applicants’ skills and which workers employers needed.

Competition for vacancies also eased. There were, on average, seven registered unemployed people per vacancy in the third quarter, compared with 11 a year earlier.

Competition varies widely by sector

The tightest competition was in financial and insurance activities, with an average of 255 registered unemployed people per vacancy. The figure was 66 in information and communications. By contrast, there were four registered unemployed people per vacancy in administrative and support service activities, and three in skilled and craft occupations.

The profile of registered unemployed people changed little from the same period last year. The shares of older people, people with higher education, and managers and top specialists increased somewhat, while the shares of young people, those without occupational qualifications, and elementary workers fell slightly. There were also fewer people who did not speak Estonian and fewer long-term unemployed people. The gender balance was broadly unchanged.