Romania’s seasonally-adjusted ILO unemployment rate decreased by 0.6pp y/y and by 0.1pp on the month to 5.3% in June, the INS statistics office reported on July 31.

The Romanian unemployment rate has been on a downward trend in the past year helped by the robust economic growth in the country. Employment has been boosted by the increasing demand for labour from companies that have been expanding. However, the government’s decision to increase the minimum wage as of February, as well as other expected hikes in the minimum wage, might increase unemployment. The European Commission said in its Spring Forecast it expects Romania’s unemployment rate to fall to 5.4% this year from 5.9% in 2016. 

The number of unemployed people decreased by 8,000 during the month to 470,000. In June last year, the number of unemployed amounted to 527,000.

The unemployment rate among men was 5.9% in June, 0.9pp down from June last year, while the unemployment rate among women fell to 4.4% from 4.9% a year before. The ILO unemployment rate reflects the share of the population who are actively seeking jobs.

Registered unemployment inched down by 0.16pp on the month to 4.18% in May, according to an earlier release from the country’s labour bureau ANOFM. Compared to May 2016, the unemployment rate dropped by 0.5pp. The highest unemployment rates were registered in the counties of Vaslui (10.5%), Teleorman (9.7%) and Galati (9.2%), while the lowest was registered in Ilfov (0.95%).

More than a quarter of Romanian employers plan to add to their payrolls in July-September 2017, according to the Q3 edition of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey released on June 13.