Currently, 321,121 people are registered with the Public Employment Service (AMS) as unemployed or in training. 248,335 of them are looking for a job, 72,786 are following an AMS course. “Unemployment remains at a similar level to the end of April. Compared to mid-May 2022, there is a slight increase of 4880 people,” Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) calculated on Tuesday.
The increase is largely due to the fact that Ukrainians are now gradually being included in unemployment statistics, as they have had completely free access to the Austrian labor market since 21 April this year. In addition, the economic slowdown has “somewhat negative effects on the labor market”.
There are many upskilling opportunities for the unemployed, “but we really should start earlier,” Kocher said Tuesday at ORF and Puls 4’s 4Gamechanger conference in Vienna. This is one of the “most important success factors for the future”. There is a need for “even better opportunities for public support for further training that is not company-specific”, according to the minister. “We need to ensure that continuing education in the professional environment starts as early as possible and doesn’t stop.”
There were significantly more applications and approvals for the red-white-red card, which was reformed in October 2022. In April 2023, 576 applications for a Red-White-Red Card for non-EU citizens were approved. Compared to April last year, this is an increase of 158 cards.
“Pleasant development”
“This pleasant development shows that the reform is working. Already more red-white-red cards have been issued in the months of January to April 2023 than in the years 2013-2016 in total,” says Kocher.
He also today presented the OECD’s GDP indicator, which compares current economic activity to activity in the same week last year. “According to the OECD, GDP in the week from 23 to 29 April 2023 was 1.3 percent higher than in the corresponding week of the previous year 2022. It is also positive that the European Commission is cautiously optimistic with its published economic forecast for Austria. remains yesterday,” the minister of labor said in a broadcast on Tuesday.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
