Romania's jobless rate stays flat at 5.6% in 2023

There were 455,600 unemployed last year, compared to 464,400 in 2022, the statistical office, INS, said in a yearly report.

The jobless rate among women was 5.1% versus 5.9% among men in 2023. Unemployment in rural areas was 8.8%, 5.8 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in urban areas.

The jobless rate among people aged 15 to 24 remained high at 21.8% in 2023, inching down by 1 percentage point year-on-year.

The long-term unemployment rate, i.e. people in the active population who have been unemployed for longer than a year, was 2.2%, while the incidence of long-term unemployment among the total unemployed population was 38.5%, unchanged from 2022. For people aged 15 to 24, the long-term unemployment rate, representing those unemployed for six months and over, stood at 11.1%, while the incidence of long-term unemployment was 51%.

The employment rate for the working-age population aged 15 to 64 was 63%, edging down 0.1 percentage points from 2022. Of the total employed population, 11.9% worked in the agricultural sector, 33.2% in industry and construction and 54.9% in services.

Romania's workforce tallied 8.15 million people in 2023, down from 8.27 million in 2022.