The employment rate of the working-age population (15-64 years) was 62.9% in Q1 2023, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to data published Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), write Agerpres.

The youth employment rate (15-24 years) was 18.8% in Q1 2023.

According to the INS, the employment rate was higher in men (71.8% compared to 53.8% in women) and for people in urban areas (68.1% compared to 57.2% in rural areas).

The unemployment rate in Q1 2023 was 5.8%, the same as in Q4 2022. By gender, the gap between the two unemployment rates was 0.6 percentage points (6% in men compared to 5.4% in women), and by residential background, 5.3 percentage points (8.7% in rural areas compared to 3.4% in urban areas).

By age group, the unemployment rate was highest (21.6%) among young people (15-24 years).