Unemployment in Lithuania

Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work. Unemployment is often used as a measure of the health of the economy. The most frequently cited measure of unemployment is the unemployment rate. This is the number of unemployed persons divided by the number of people in the labor force.

Unemployment in Lithuania

According to the Labour Force Survey performed by Statistics Lithuania, in 2013, the unemployment rate amounted to 11.8% and was 1.6 percentage point lower than in 2012. The male unemployment rate in 2013 reached 13.1%, and the female unemployment rate reached 10.5%. Over the year, the male unemployment rate increased by 2.1 percentage point and the female unemployment rate by 1.1 percentage points. The rate of long-term unemployment reached 5.1% and was 1.5 percentage point lower than in 2012.

In the first quarter 2014 the unemployment rate reached 12.4%, and if compared to the same period of 2013, decreased by 0.7 percentage point. In the first quarter 2014 the male unemployment rate amounted to 13.9%, and the female unemployment rate to 10.9%. The rate of long-term unemployment reached 5.2% in first quarter 2014 and was 0.7 percentage point lower than in the same period of 2013.

Youth Employment and Unemployment

Based on Labour Force Survey, the youth (persons aged 15–24) employment rate in 2013 comprised 24.6%. Over the year, it increased by 3.1 percentage point. Over the first quarter 2014 the youth employment rate reached 25.9%. It increased by 1 percentage point over the quarter and by 2.4 percentage point over the year. In the first quarter 2014, every fourth person aged 15–24 was employed. At the same period, 261.9 thousand (67.1%) of residents aged 15–24 were economically inactive. 93.55 of them studied at schools of general education or vocational schools, colleges, universities.

The youth (persons aged 15-24) unemployment rate in 2013, if compared to 2012, decreased by 4.8 percentage point and reached 21.9%. In the first quarter 2014, the unemployment rate attained 21.2% and was 1.5 percentage points lower than in the same period of 2013.

In my opinion, the situation of unemployment is bad, namelly with the young people. Usually, just graduated university students can not find job. The government of Lithuania is trying to change the situation through the implementation of a priority measure of the Programme 2012-2016 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania Programme. The Programme for the Increase of Employment 2014–2020 was adopted in 2013, by Resolution No. 878, of 25 September 2013, of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. It aims attaining an integrated solution to current problems of residents’ employment by uniting business, education and labour market sectors, as well as by engaging social partners and municipalities into the process of employment policy formation.

The programme specifies the main aims (to encourage the establishment of job vacancies and labour demand, to increase the correspondence of labour force qualification to labour market needs, to integrate free labour resources into the labour market and to maintain them there) and the tasks to achieve these aims. An Inter-Institutional Action Plan aimed at achieving the aims and tasks as well as the planned results was drafted and approved by Resolution No. 204, of 26 February 2014, of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

Aira Janonytè 

[artigo de opinião produzido no âmbito da unidade curricular “Economia Portuguesa e Europeia” do 3º ano do curso de Economia (1º ciclo) da EEG/UMinho]