The employment rate for people of working age, i.e. between 15 and 64 years, was of 59.8% in the first quarter, down from the previous quarter by 1.6 percentage points, according to a press release from the National Institute Statistics (INS) on Thursday.
In Q1 2016, Romania’s active population was of 8.834 million people, of which 8.249 million people were employed and 585,000 were unemployed.
The employment rate was higher for men (67.2% versus 52.2% in women) and for people living in urban areas (61.2% versus 58.0% in rural areas). The employment rate of young people (15-24 years) was of 20.4%.
The unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2016 was 6.6%, equal to the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate reached its highest level (21.8%) among youth (15-24 years).