According to data from the State Statistical Office (RZS), the number of unemployed people in Serbia in the first quarter of this year decreased by 3,800 compared to the last quarter of 2019, although the number of employed persons decreased by 60,800, said Sarita Bradas, an associate of the Foundation of the Centre for Democracy.
Bradas told the Beta news agency that 2,938,200 people were employed in the last quarter of 2019 compared to 2,877,400 in the first quarter of 2020.
According to her, this illogicality can be explained by the fact that a large part of the workers who lost their jobs during the state of emergency, that began on 15 March, gave up looking for a job and were not registered as unemployed by the Statistical Office.
Discover the most important foreign investments in Serbia in 2019: click here!
“Those workers who lost their jobs, if they did not actively search for them for four weeks, were registered as inactive and are not considered unemployed,” said Bradas.
She added that such a difference in the number of employees between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2019 cannot be explained by seasonal fluctuations.
If, as she said, we look at the last quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, the difference in the number of employees was only 6,900.
She said that out of 60,800 workers, the largest number of them lost their jobs (51,400) in the informal sector, i.e. self-employed, as well as small shop employees.
Bradas concluded that the Central Register of Mandatory Social Insurance contains accurate data on the number of workers who have lost their jobs or who have worked for an indefinite or definite period of time or on the basis of temporary and occasional work.
(Danas, 10.06.2020)
https://www.danas.rs/ekonomija/u-srbiji-u-prvom-kvartalu-broj-zaposlenih-radnika-manji-za-60-800/
This post is also available in: Italiano