RIGA, Feb 24 (LETA) - As many as 877,400 people were employed in Latvia in 2024, which represents 64 percent of the population aged 15-74, according to the results from the Latvian Labor Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).

Over the year employment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points and number of employed persons by 6,800.

Among economic activities, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, education, and construction had the steepest drop in the number of employed persons.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, 867,200 people aged 15-74 were employed, which is 12,900 fewer than in the third quarter of 2024. Employment rate was 63.4 percent, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than in the third quarter of 2024.

In the age group 75-89, there were 6,200 employed persons in 2024 and 6,700 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The statistics in this news release covers people aged 15-74 (including).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, employment rate for men was 4.1 percentage points higher than for women - 65.5 percent and 61.4 percent, respectively.

Employees accounted for 86.3 percent of the employed persons in 2024, self-employed for 7.8 percent, employers for 5 percent, and unpaid family workers (working in a family business/private practice/agricultural holding) for just 0.8 percent.

Irrespective of the fact that Latvian employment rate is above the EU average (62 percent in Q3 2024), in the fourth quarter of 2024 it was the lowest among the Baltic countries (63.4 percent in Latvia, 68.5 percent in Estonia, and 66.1 percent in Lithuania).

Employment rate for young people (aged 15-24) was 29.8 percent in 2024, thus being 0.8 percentage points lower than in 2023. The total number of employed youths was 56,200 (56,300 in 2023). Over the quarter, the number of employed youths reduced by 3,800 (6.6 percent) and was 54,300 (58,200 in Q3 2024). Youth employment rate fell by 2.2 percentage points and was 28.6 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, 11.2 percent of all employees (83,900) worked remotely. The figure has gone up by 6,300 people over the year (from 77,600 (10.3 percent)) and down by 2,700 people (0.2 percentage points) over the quarter (from 86,600 (11.4 percent)). Women accounted for 57.6 percent and men for 42.4 percent of those working remotely.

Breakdown of the data by economic activity shows that information and communication as well as financial and insurance activities engaged the majority of remote workers (54.1 percent and 51.7 percent of all people in the corresponding economic activity, respectively). Public administration and defense; compulsory social security employed one fifth of the remote workers (19.6 percent) as did scientific, administrative, and real estate activities.

In 2024, employed persons worked on average 38.1 hours per week in the main job, which is the same figure as a year ago. However, in the fourth quarter of 2024 those were on average 37.9 hours per week, which is 0.5 hours fewer than in the third quarter of 2024.

In 2024, 70,000 people (8 percent of the employed) worked part-time. It is 500 people (0.1 percentage points) more than in 2023. Women made up the largest share of those working remotely (66 percent, compared to 34 percent of men).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, 68,900 employed persons (7.9 percent) worked part time, which is 100 people (0.1 percentage points) more than in the third quarter of 2024.

In 2024, 43,500 employed persons held a second job, i.e., had another job in addition to their main job or did odd jobs and earned extra income. It is 900 people (2 percent) fewer than in 2023. The share of employed persons holding a second job did not change compared to 2023 and made up 5 percent in 2024.

Women held a second job more often than men (23,700 and 19,800, respectively). Additionally, most people holding a second job worked 1-10 hours per week (44.3 percent) and 11-20 hours per week (28 percent).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, 44,200 employed persons (5.1 percent) held a second job, which is 5,600 people (14.5 percent) more than in the third quarter of 2024 (38,700 (4.4 percent)).

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.