In one month, number of unemployed in BiH increased by 5,000

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - At the end of July, there were 426,252 people registered with employment bureaus and services in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed persons increased by 4,952 or 1.18%. Of the total number of people seeking employment, 243,580 or 57.14% are women.

Compared to the same period last year, unemployment in BiH is higher by 19,143 persons or 4.7%. The rise in unemployment is caused by reduced economic activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and unemployment has increased by 23,364 persons or 5.8% since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from the Agency for Labor and Employment of BiH.

Unemployment increased in the Federation of BiH by 4,041 persons (1.24%), in the Republika Srpska by 777 persons (0.21%), and in the Brčko District of BiH by 134 persons (1.92%).

The structure of persons seeking employment, as of July 31, 2020, is as follows:

Unskilled workers 112,139 or 26.31%, of which 46,321 (25.36%) men and 65,818 (27.02%) women;

Semi-skilled workers 7,136 or 1.67%, of which 3,520 (1.93%) men and 3,616 (1.48%) women;

Skilled workers 134,020 or 31.44%, of which 71,743 (39.27%) men and 62,277 (25.57%) women;

Highly skilled workers 1,571 or 0.37%, of which 1,289 (0.71%) men and 282 (0.12%) women;

Secondary school education 124,550 or 29.22%, of which 45,797 (25.07%) men and 78,753 (32.33%) women;

Higher education 7,197 or 1.69%, of which 2,507 (1.37%) men and 4,690 (1.93%) women;

University degree 39,639 or 9.30%, of which 11,495 (6.29%) men and 28,144 (11.55%) women.

In July, a total of 14,617 persons were removed from the employment service registers, of which 7,069 were women. Of this number, 10,684 persons were employed, of which 5,081 were women. At the same time, employment ended for 10,746 persons, of which 5,853 were women. During this period, employers reported needs for hiring 2,135 new workers.

According to data from the Agency for Statistics of BiH, in June 2020, the number of employed persons in BiH was 804,028, of which 346,329 were women. Compared to May 2020, the number of employed persons increased by 0.5%, and the number of employed women also increased by 0.5%.

The registered unemployment rate for June 2020 was 34.4%, and compared to May 2020, it decreased by 0.1 percentage point.