Analytics, Employment, Labour-market, Latvia

Registered unemployment in Latvia was at 8.7% in December 2015, at 8.4% in November 2015, at 8.3% in October and September 2015, at 8.5% in August 2015 and at 8.6% for the three preceding months.

At the beginning of January this year, there were 81,780 people registered with the State Employment Agency as unemployed compared to 85,452 registered jobless at the end of January.

Riga Region had the lowest unemployment level in late January this year at 5.6%, while Latgale province in eastern Latvia had the highest rate at 19.1%. Unemployment level in Kurzeme province in the west was 11.4%, Vidzeme in north-eastern Latvia had a jobless rate of 10% and in Zemgale in south it was 9.5%.

Among the Latvian cities, Riga had the lowest unemployment rate at 5.2%, followed by Jurmala with 6.2% and Valmiera with 6.3%. The highest unemployment rate was registered in Rezekne in eastern Latvia at 16.9%.

NVA representative Egils Vidzups said that the growing jobless rate was mostly influenced by the situation with seasonal jobs and similar trends had been observed also in previous years.