Unemployment in Ukraine declines by 12% as of Sep 1

"Due to enhancing the State Employment Service's efficiency in operational employment of citizens, the number of the unemployed decreased by 12%, or 44,000 people, as of September 1, 2017, against the figure as of September 1, 2016, to 312,000 persons," the service said in a statement.

According to the report, four unemployed persons applied for one vacant job as of September 1, 2017, against seven unemployed as of September 1, 2016.

The number of people employed with the assistance of the state employment service grew by 8%, or 40,000 people, in January-August of 2017, year-over-year (y-o-y), to 537,000 persons. At the same time, 43% of them were employed promptly when granting the status of the unemployed.

The number of employers who cooperated with employment centers in January-August 2017 increased by 13%, to 144,000 recruiters. The number of vacancies in the service's database rose by 16%, to 722,700.

As of September 1, 2017, the number of vacancies submitted by employers to the Service increased by 43% against the figure as of September 1, 2016, to 77,000. In addition, the database of the employment service contained information on 45,500 job offers received from other sources.

Read alsoCabinet believes minimum salary growth to boost employmentSome 10,000 job seekers were hired in the eight months of 2017 with compensation to the employer of expenses to the amount of single social tax, which was 19% more than in January-August 2016, including 4,200 people, who are insufficiently competitive in the labor market, and 5,800 persons employed by small businesses in priority economic activities.

With the purpose of providing the applicants' vocational qualification meeting employers' requirements, 123,500 job seekers passed vocational training in January-August 2017 with the assistance of the state employment service, which was 2% up y-o-y. In particular, the number of the unemployed who studied at the service's vocational education centers grew by 10%, to 29,900 people.

The unemployed registered with the State Employment Service, who were previously engaged in administration, defense, and compulsory social insurance, accounted for 21% as of September 1, 2017, while the share of those previously employed in trade and repairing was 21%. The registered unemployed, who worked in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries or in the processing industry, accounted for 13% each. In addition, 170,800 people were involved in public and other temporary jobs.

A significant number of people applying for a job in the state employment service are citizens with higher education. Thus, 48% of the registered unemployed had higher education, 34% had vocational, and 18% had secondary education.

Among the registered unemployed, the following professional groups prevail: workers with experience in the maintenance and operation of equipment and machinery; legislators, civil servants, managers; employees engaged in trade and services.

Read alsoUnemployment in Ukraine exceeds 10% in Q1The most demanded are skilled workers with equipment (19%), as well as professionals and workers in maintenance, operation of equipment and machinery (16% each).

In terms of economic activity, most of vacancies are posted in the processing industry (21%), trade and repairing of motor vehicles (15%), and in public administration and defense (12%).

The imbalance between supply and demand in the labor market has significantly decreased due to the growth in the number of vacancies and employment of job seekers.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the number of the unemployed in Ukraine was 390,800 people in 2016, which accounted for 1.5% of the working-age population, according to the State Statistics Service.

The unemployment rate in Ukraine decreased by 3.2%, or 10,300 people in July 2017 from June 2017, to 319,900 persons.