The weak economic situation continues to weigh on the Austrian labor market. According to figures published Wednesday, around 375,120 people were registered as unemployed or in training with the Public Employment Service (AMS) at the end of September. Of these, 299,180 were unemployed and around 75,940 were in AMS training programs. This marks the 30th consecutive monthly increase in unemployment figures since April 2023.
Compared to the same month last year, the number of unemployed and training participants rose by 5.8 percent, or 20,455 people, in September. The unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points to 7 percent.
AMS Chief: Unemployment Growing “Across All Major Sectors”
“The longest economic crisis of the Second Republic is pushing more and more companies to their limits: many can no longer ‘hold their breath’ or keep staff for better times,” said AMS chief Johannes Kopf in a statement on the latest unemployment data. There was “almost weekly bad news” for the labor market, most recently from Lenzing and Unimarkt. Unemployment is growing “across all major sectors, in every federal state (only minimally in Carinthia), and affects every age group,” Kopf said. “In short: there is nothing positive to report from the labor market at the moment.”
Labor and Social Affairs Minister Korinna Schumann (SPÖ) highlighted the difficult situation for older unemployed people. “We still have a long way to go to sustainably and permanently improve the labor market situation for workers over 55.” She stressed that “a change in thinking among employers” is also urgently needed.
