At the end of May, 375,347 persons were registered as unemployed or in training with the Public Employment Service (AMS), of whom 296,140 were unemployed and 79,207 were in AMS training measures. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the number of unemployed persons and training participants increased by 6.9 percent, i.e. 24,196 persons. The unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 6.9 percent.

Unemployment figures in Austria have been rising since April 2023. For this year, the economic researchers from Wifo and IHS still expect a third recession year and more unemployed. “As long as we do not have substantial growth, unemployment will not decrease given a rising labor supply,” commented AMS Director Johannes Kopf on the current labor market data. According to the preliminary projection of the Ministry of Labor and the AMS, the number of dependent employment relationships for May 2025 amounts to 3.965 million, and thus 2,000 more than in May 2024.

Sectoral and regional breakdown
Particularly affected by the rise in unemployment once again were, according to the AMS, the manufacturing sector as well as the federal states of Upper Austria and Salzburg. The largest percentage increases in unemployed persons and persons in AMS training compared to the same month of the previous year at the end of May occurred in goods production/industry (+13.8 percent), in health and social services (+12 percent) and in trade (+9.3 percent). The increase was somewhat lower in transport and warehousing (+6.8 percent) and in gastronomy and accommodation (+6.5 percent). The unemployment figures in the construction industry (+0.1 percent) and in temporary employment (+0.3 percent) were almost unchanged.