Unemployment down, job listings up
Luxembourg's unemployment rate dropped to 6.1% in April from 6.9% a year earlier, the national job agency Adem said on Thursday, a sign that the labour market is improving as the country emerges from the lockdown measures during the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of job seekers dropped by 2.4% compared to the previous month and by 9.9% year-on-year, Adem said, quoting national statistics. Last month, the job agency registered 18,249 people looking for employment.
At the same time, employers also advertised more vacancies than a year ago. Last month, Adem received almost 3,000 listings, up by 55% on the year. Currently, there are over 8,000 jobs available in Luxembourg, Adem said.
Despite falling overall unemployment, long-term unemployment in Luxembourg has reached a new high, Adem statistics chief Jean Ries said last week, driven by people in manual labour such as construction who have have to retrain because of health problems.
"The prospects for low-skilled workers who have been out of work for some time are currently not rosy," Ries said in an interview with the Luxemburger Wort newspaper published on Friday.
Just over 10,000 people are receiving unemployment benefits, which is 1.4% fewer than a year ago, according to Adem.
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