Number of unemployed persons in Estonia fell in the third quarter, but rose compared with the previous year

There were 40,600 unemployed persons in the third quarter, which is 700 more than at the same time last year and 1,100 less than in the second quarter of 2022. There were nearly 21,200 unemployed men and nearly 19,500 unemployed women. The unemployment rate was 4.6% among Estonians and 8.5% among Russians.

“While the number of unemployed persons rose in the first half of this year, it is now falling again. Year on year, however, the number of unemployed has increased somewhat,” said Katriin Põlluäär, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia.

In the third quarter of 2022, there were 680,100 employed persons, which is 22,500 more than at the same time last year. 344,400 of the employed were men and 335,800 were women.

85% of the employed worked full-time, the rest part-time. The number of part-time workers was 102,300, up by 16,300 compared with a year ago and down by 400 compared with the second quarter of 2022. “Part-time work is more popular among women, with 70,800 women and 31,600 men working part-time in the third quarter,” noted Põlluäär.

The number of underemployed persons, i.e. persons who work part-time but would like to work more and are available for additional work within two weeks, was 6,400 in the third quarter, which is 400 people less than in the previous quarter. Compared with a year ago, the number of underemployed persons has increased by 1,500.

There were 257,600 inactive persons, 111,600 of them men and 146,000 women. The main reasons for inactivity were retirement, studies, and illness or disability.

“The number of the inactive has fallen compared with the first half of the year and the same period last year. There were 161,500 Estonians and 96,100 non-Estonians among the inactive,” Põlluäär added.