Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

9.11. The unemployment rate7F7F
According to LFS 2007 the unemployment rate
was 13.9 percent, which is much lower than the
unemployment rate from LFS 2006 (21.6 percent).
Although LFS and LSMS data cannot be considered
fully comparable due to the already mentioned
seasonal influence on unemployment trends, it can
still be concluded on the basis of unemployment
tendencies over the last four years that
unemployment levels are gradually stabilizing.
The EU unemployment rate in 2007 was 7
percent and in surrounding countries it was less than
10 percent (Croatia 9.0 percent, Hungary 7.2
percent, Romania 6.7 percent and Bulgaria 6.9
percent).
Graph 9.6. Unemployment rate, LFS 2007
gender
men
women
11.8%
8
16.5%
The Serbian labour market is typical of a
country in transition:
1. The unemployment rate is much higher than the
EU average
2. There is a high percentage of long-term
unemployment, youth unemployment, and
unemployment among people with primary and
secondary education
3. There is large regional disparity in
unemployment rates
Table 8 shows that 2006 was a turning point in
relation to labour market trends. Unemployment
grew continuously from 2002-2005 (the period
when a large number of state-owned companies
were privatized, when banks were liquidated and
state administration rationalized, all resulting in
huge layoffs). In 2006, the unemployment rate
stagnated, i.e. there was a tiny reduction in the
employment rate, while in 2007 all data sources
(LFS, NES, and LSMS) recorded a decrease in the
unemployment rate.
primary
14.9%
Table 9.9. Unemployment rate, 2004-2007
education
secondary
tertiary
7.9%
15.4%
LFS LSMS NES
October May Annual average
2004 19.5 - 25.86
2005 21.8 - 26.83
type of
settlement
region
urban
other
Belgrade
Vojvodina
Western
Serbia
Sumadija
Eastern
Serbia
South-
Eastern
Serbia
14.4%
13.1%
10.8%
15.2%
12.1%
14.2%
12.2%
18,2%
2006 21.6 - 27.90
2007 18.8 13.9 26.83
Of the total number of unemployed, 53 percent
are women. The unemployment rate for women is
16.5 percent and for men 11.8 percent. Similar to
other countries that have gone through a transition
period and experienced high unemployment, young
people were most affected by unemployment.
Young people (between 15 and 24 years of age)
account for 15.5 percent of the total number of
population aged 15+. They constitute 6.3 percent of
the employed and 24.8 percent of the unemployed.
Youth unemployment is extremely high (37
percent for men and 43 percent for women). The
youth unemployment rate in 2007 compared to 2002
was up 9 percent. Apart from an extremely high
youth unemployment rate, unemployment is also
high in other age groups, which can be seen from
the following graph.
Employment status
125