Unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2024 was 5.3%, down by 0.5 percentage points compared to the one recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced on Friday.

The employment rate of the working-age population (15-64 years) was, in the first three months, 64.2%, increasing by 1.2 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

The employment rate was higher for men (72.6% compared to 55.6% for women) and for people from the urban environment (70.3% compared to 56.8 in the urban environment). The employment rate of young people (15-24 years old) was 19.9%.

By gender, the difference between the two unemployment rates was 0.5 percentage points (5.5% for men compared to 5% for women), and by residential environments, by 5.9 percentage points (8.7% in the rural environment, compared to 2.8% in the urban environment). By age group, the unemployment rate reached the highest level (19.7%) among young people (15-24 years old).

AGERPRES