Long term unemployment rate in Austria has tripled in the past year

According to Austria’s employment service (AMS) long term unemployment rate in Austria has tripled in the past year.

At the end of November 2014, there were 16,447 people who have been out of work for more than 12 months.  Since then, the number has soared by 31,398 up to 47,845 at the end of 2015 In September 2017 the number of long term unemployed went to 57,233, which is a total increase of  348% since late 2014.

Overall employment statistics are also grim, with an increase since last month of 7.4 percent, meaning a total of 302,843 people out of work, according to a report in the.

If you add in the number of people in training — some 70,814 — the number increases to 6.1 percent.

In general the unemployment rate generally as a proportion of the working population stands at 9.2 %.

The chief of the Austrian unemployment service (AMS) explained that “a poor economic situation since 2012 has led to a consolidation of unemployment.”

Older Austrians are particularly affected, with a significant increase of 13.5 percent among those over 50 years of age, bringing the total to 97,318 ageing workers.

All major industries have been affected by the trend, including the tourism sector, which has seen a 4.6 percent increase in jobless.

The construction business was also affected, with a 3.8 percent increase.

There was little difference between the rates for men and women. Youth unemployment however decreased slightly, as employers are switching to less experienced people to save costs.

Source: TheLocal.AT