Romania’s employment rate among people aged between 20 and 64 stood at 68.8% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter, while the unemployment rate reached 6.8%, 0.3 percentage points higher during the reference period, according to data published on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS).

According to the cited source, in the second quarter of this year, the economically active population stood at 8,229,700 people, of whom 7,671,600 were employed and 558,100 were unemployed.

Also, the employment rate among the working-age population (aged 15-64) stood at 62.7% during the period under review, up 0.1 percentage points, while the employment rate among people aged between 20 and 64 stood at 68.8%. In this context, the employment rate was higher among men (70.9%, compared with 54.3% among women) and among people living in urban areas (69%, compared with 56.1% in rural areas).

At the same time, the employment rate among young people (aged 15-24) stood at 15.3% of the total economically active population.

NIS data show that, nationwide, the unemployment rate was 6.8% in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.3 percentage points from the figure recorded in the previous quarter. The gap between women and men was 0.4 percentage points (7% among women, compared with 6.6% among men), while the difference between residential areas was 6.1 percentage points (10.1% in rural areas, compared with 4% in urban areas).

By age group, the unemployment rate reached its highest level (29.9%) among young people (aged 15-24).

SOURCE: AGERPRES