RIGA, Feb 24 (LETA) - Last year, Latvia had an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, and it has increased by 0.4 percentage points since 2023, according to the results from the Latvian Labor Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).

Last year, 65,300 people aged 15-74 were unemployed. The number of unemployed persons has gone up by 3,800 or 6.2 percent over the year.

Unemployment rate for women was still lower than for men - 5.8 percent and 8 percent respectively.

However, with a youth unemployment rate of 13.6 percent, Latvia had the lowest youth unemployment among the Baltic countries for two years in a row.

In the fourth quarter 2024, Latvia had an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in the third quarter of 2024. The number of unemployed persons totaled 63,800, which is 800 people or 1.3 percent more than in the third quarter of 2024.

Compared to the third quarter of 2024, in the fourth quarter of 2024 the number of unemployed men grew by 500 or 1.3 percent and of unemployed women by 400 or 1.4 percent.

In the third quarter of 2024 Latvian unemployment rate (6.7 percent) was 0.9 percentage points above the EU average (5.8 percent). In fourth quarter of 2024, it was 6.9 percent and was lower than in Estonia (7.4 percent) but higher than in Lithuania (6.5 percent).

The number of people who did not have a job for up to five months reduced by 200 over the year (making up 33,500 people (51.6 percent)) and the number of persons unemployed for 6-11 months went down by 100 (making up 10,500 people (16.2 percent)). Additionally, the number of long-term unemployed persons, i.e., those unemployed for 12 months or more, rose by 4,000, reaching 21,000 in 2024 and representing 32.3 percent of all unemployed persons (17,000 (27.6 percent) in 2023).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, there were 29,700 persons who did not have a job for up to five months, making up 46.5 percent of all unemployed (36,000 (57.2 percent) in the third quarter of 2024), and the number of persons unemployed for 6-11 months totaled 9,400, representing 14.7 percent (9,700 (15.4 percent) in the third quarter of 2024). However, the number of long-term unemployed grew significantly - by 7,500 (11.3 percentage points). Thus, there were 24,700 long-term unemployed persons in the fourth quarter of 2024 (17,200 in the third quarter of 2024) and the share thereof among all unemployed represented 38.7 percent (27.4 percent in the third quarter of 2024).

In 2024, youth (people aged 15-24) unemployment rate was 13.6 percent, which is 1.3 percentage points higher than in 2023. Unemployed youths totaled 8,800, representing 13.5 percent of all unemployed persons. The total number of unemployed youths grew by 900 over the year and their share in the total number of unemployed persons by 0.7 percentage points.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, youth unemployment rate was 12.5 percent, which is 0.5 percentage points lower than in the third quarter of 2024. The number of unemployed youths went down by 900 over the quarter (from 13.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024) and totaled 7,800 (12.2 percent of all unemployed).

Youth unemployment rate in Latvia has been lower than in EU since 2013, while in 2022 Latvian rate was 0.8 percentage points above the EU average. However, in 2024, just like in 2023, Latvia had the lowest youth unemployment rate among the Baltic countries: 13.6 percent in Latvia, 16.2 percent in Lithuania, and 19.1 percent in Estonia.

Out of all young people, 34.5 percent were economically active in 2024 (i.e., employed or actively looking for a job (unemployed)), while 65.5 percent inactive (mostly still in education and not looking for a job).

In 2024, 31.3 percent of the population aged 15-74 were inactive, i.e., were neither in employment, nor actively looking for a job (totaling 429,300 people, including 159,800 in the age group 65-74 who represent 37.2 percent of the total inactive population). Over the year inactive population reduced by 2,700 people (0.6 percent).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, 32 percent of the population aged 15-74 were inactive (437,500 people). Over the quarter inactive population increased by 9,700 people (2.3 percent).

In 2024, 0.8 percent of the inactive population were discouraged from finding a job (0.6 percent in 2023).

In 2024, the survey covered 20,400 households in which 34,100 people aged 15-89 were interviewed, including 17,700 households with 29,400 people aged 15-74. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the survey covered 5,000 households in which 8,500 people aged 15-89 were interviewed, including 4,400 households with 7,300 people aged 15-74.