Unemployment rate drops to 3.8 pct in Q2 2019, with highest level in youths

The unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 pct in Q2 of this year and the highest level, 15 pct, was recorded among youths aged 15 to 24, according to data of the National Institute of Statistics published on Thursday. 

As compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points in the April-June period. 

When sorted by gender, the difference between the two unemployment rates was of 0.8 percentage points (4.1 pct in men as compared to 3.3 in women), and depending on living environment by 0.7 percentage pints (4.1 in the rural environment as compared to 3.4 in the urban environment). 

In Q2 2019, the employment rate of the population of working age (15-64 years old) was of 66.4 pct, a 2.2 percentage point increase over the last quarter. The employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 was 71.6 pct, exceeding by 1.6 percentage points the national target of 70 pct set by the Europa 2020 Strategy. 

The employment rate was higher in men (75.1 pct as compared to 57.5 pct in women) and in the urban environment (67.1 pct over 65.6 pct in the rural environment). The employment rate of youths (15-24 years old) was 25.6 pct. 

In Q2 of 2019, the active population of Romania numbered 9.159 million persons, of which 8.814 were employed and 345.000 were unemployed.