Based on the results of the Labour Force Survey for the 1st quarter of 2024, the labour force amounted to 490.232 persons or 64,5% of the population (males 69,0%, females 60,3%) compared to 492.230 persons (65,6%) in the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The number of employed persons was 460.893 and the employment rate 60,6% (males 64,9%, females 56,6%) compared to 458.835 persons (61,2%) in the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The number of unemployed persons amounted to 29.339 persons and the unemployment rate to 6,0% of the labour force (males 5,9%, females 6,1%) compared to 33.394 persons (6,8%) in the corresponding quarter of 2023.

Employment

For those aged 20-64 the employment rate was 78.0%. The rate for men was 82.2% and for women 74.1%. In the corresponding quarter of 2023 the percentage was 78,6% (males 83,9%, females 73,7%). In the ages 55-64, the employment rate was 69,5% compared to 65,6% in the corresponding quarter of 2023.

According to the distribution of employment by sector, the largest percentage of employed persons is concentrated in Services with 80.9%, followed by Industry and Agriculture with percentages of 16.7% and 2.4% respectively. For the 1st quarter of 2023 the corresponding percentages were: Services 80,7%, Industry 16,9% and Agriculture 2,4%.

Part-time employment accounted for 9.4% of total employment or 43.143 persons (males 7.2%, females 11.6%). The corresponding figure for Q1 2023 was 9.9% (males 7.4%, females 12.5%).

Of the total employed, 89,6% or 412.732 persons were employees, of which 12,6% (52.044 persons) had a temporary job. In the corresponding quarter of 2023, employees accounted for 89.2% of total employment and of these, 12.1% had a temporary job.

Unemployment

Among young people aged 15-24 the unemployment rate was 16,2% of the labour force of these ages (males 17,9%, females 14,5%) compared to 16,0% (males 18,7%, females 13,4%) in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Regarding the duration of unemployment, 59.7% of the total unemployed were looking for work for a period of less than 6 months, 14.1% for a period of 6-11 months, while 26.2% were long-term unemployed. The corresponding percentages for Q1 2023 were 51.1%, 16.7% and 32.2%.