Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Statistics, Wages

In the 1^st quarter of 2017, in Latvia there were 882.5 thousand employed persons or 61.6% of the population aged 15–74. Compared to the previous quarter, in the 1^st quarter of 2017 the employment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points, while the number of employed persons by 7.9 thousand. The most significant drop was recorded in manufacturing, construction, arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as financial and insurance activities. Starting from the 1^st quarter of 2016, the number of employed persons in the respective age group diminished by 6.7 thousand.

Nonetheless since the end of 2012 the Latvian employment rate has been exceeding the European Union (EU) average (59.2% in the 4^th quarter of 2016), in the 1^st quarter of 2017 it was the lowest rate recorded among the Baltic states (66.3% in Estonia and 62.2% in Lithuania).

Employment rate in the Baltic states and the European Union, %

In the 1^st quarter of 2017, the employment rate among young people (aged 15–24) constituted 30.6 %; it was 3.6 percentage points lower than in the corresponding period a year before. The number of employed young people accounted for 56.2 thousand (66.5 thousand in 1^st quarter of 2016).

In the 1^st quarter of 2017, persons employed in the main job worked on average 38.5 hours per week – 0.2 hours more than In the 1^st quarter of 2016.

The Labour Force Survey data show that, compared to the 1^st quarter of 2016, in the 1^st quarter of 2017 the share of employees receiving less than 450.00 euros monthly (after taxes) reduced by 41.9 % (1.8 percentage points); the proportion of employees receiving minimum monthly wage or less went up by 0.8 percentage points (21.4 % in the 1^st quarter of 2017); the share of employees receiving 450.01–700 euros monthly rose by 0.8 percentage points (31.6 % in the 1^st quarter of 2017); that of employees receiving 700.01–1400.00 euros monthly increased by 0.8 percentage points (18.2 % in the 1^st quarter of 2017); and that of employees receiving more than 1400 euros monthly grew by 0.9 percentage points (3.8% in the 1^st quarter of 2017).Wage or salary of 2.3% of employees was not calculated or paid, while 2.2% did not indicate the size of earnings thereof.

Employees by monthly net (after taxes) wages and salaries in the main job, %

In the 1^st quarter of 2017, the Labour Force Survey covered 4.1 thousand households, in which 7.7 thousand persons aged 15–74 were interviewed.