Press release: 12. 07-047/20

Austrian Labour market 2019: increase in employment, decrease of unemployment

Vienna, 2020-03-18 – 4.355 million people were employed in Austria in 2019, according to the Labour Force Survey carried out by Statistics Austria. Compared to 2018, the number of employees (3.825 million, +24 800) and self-employed people (482 700, +17 600) increased while the number of unpaid family workers fell (46 900, -6 500). In 2019, the number of full-time employees (+21 800) increased, the number of part-time employees remained at the previous year's level. Both sexes benefited from the increase in employment (men +9 400, women +15 400). Furthermore, the rise in the number of employees was especially high for citizens of the 28 EU member states (+21 100), for elder employees (age group 55-59: +20 400) and persons with higher education.

In 2019, the number of unemployed people (204 600) was lower than in the previous year (2018: 220 100). This resulted in an unemployment rate of 4.5% in 2019, less than 2018 (4.9%). Both women and men benefited from this decrease.

During the fourth quarter of 2019, 4.384 million people were employed and 190 200 unemployed, according to international definitions. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, there was a slight increase of employees (+18 400), with the growth being much stronger for full-time employees (+13 500) than for part-time workers (+4 900). The increase in full-time employment (+12 600) benefitted mainly to men, whereas women predominantly saw an increase in part-time jobs (+8 400). The number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate were lower than in the fourth quarter of 2018 (-20 800 people, -0.4 percentage points).

Both data on employment and unemployment are based on ILO definitions. The results refer to the annual average over all calendar weeks.

For more detailed information please refer to the German version.