TIRANA, Oct. 22 – Albania’s unemployment rate rose to 14.8 percent in the second quarter of 2013, up 0.9 percent compared to the same period last year, says INSTAT in its latest labour force survey. The survey shows Albania’s long-term unemployment, the share of labour force that is unemployed for 12 months and more, also rose to 11.9 at the end of the second quarter of 2013, up 0.6 percent year-on-year.
The survey showed the youth unemployment rate which includes people aged from 15 to 29 years old was at 23.6 percent in the second quarter of 2013 almost at the same levels compared to a year ago. Most jobless people said they addressed friends and relatives to find a job.
The economically inactive population in the second quarter of 2013 accounted for 40 percent of working age population. Some 40 percent of youth aged between 15 to 29 years old said they were attending school or training. Around a quarter of females said they were economically inactive because of being involved in household chores, compared to only 1.3 percent for males.
The survey shows 15.5 percent of the economically inactive people aged from 15 to 64 years said they were not looking for a job because they believed there was no job, registering a 1.3 percent increase in the share of discouraged workers.
The services sector employs 37 percent of people aged between 15 to 64 years old. Employment in market services such as trade, transport, financial activities, hotels and restaurants and car repair, communication and real estate accounts for 19.7 percent of total employment. The public services composed of public administration, security, compulsory insurance, education and health accounts for 15.2 percent of total employment.
Employment in the agriculture sector accounted for 48.8 percent of total in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 16.3 percent in the industry sector.
Some 5,000 households are interviewed as part of the INSTAT labour force survey which is now conducted on quarterly basis compared to an annual basis in the previous years.
“Labour market statistics continue to be weak and are distorted by a large informal sector. Overall, there was a slight improvement in the labour market but the informal sector remains large and unemployment is persistently high. Unemployment benefit coverage remains low, at an estimated 6 percent of the total number of registered unemployed,” says the European Commission in its 2013 progress report on Albania.
Unemployment unchanged at 12.8%
Latest INSTAT data show the unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2013 remained unchanged at 12.8 percent for the third quarter in a row, but was 0.3 percent lower compared to the second quarter of 2012. The number of officially registered jobless people grew by only around 1,000 people year-on-year, confirming the poor confidence jobless people have in employment agencies to find a job.
The private sector remains the key driver of employment with around 282,000 workers in the second quarter of 2013, up 20,000 compared to the second quarter of 2012.
Average wages in the public sector rose to 51,700 lek (Euro 361), up from 48,800 lek in the second quarter of 2012. Some 7.758 people benefitted monthly unemployment assistance of 6,850 lek (Euro 48) at the end of the second quarter of 2013, compared to 10,513 in the second quarter of 2012.
INSTAT revised downward the unemployment rate for the final quarter of 2012 to 12.8 percent based on the new population census in 2011 which showed the population had shrunk by 7.7 percent to 2.8 million people in the past decade.
INSTAT has also revised the number of people self-employed in the private agriculture sector to 518,796, down from 523,767 in the second of people quarter of 2012.
INSTAT data are often criticized as unreliable due to the methodology calculating people living in rural areas possessing land as self-employed in the agriculture sector and taking into account only those people who register themselves as unemployed with state agencies.
