Unemployment rate decreases to 3.9pct in December 2019

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.9pct in December last year, from 4pct in November, and the number of the unemployed decreased to 354,000 people, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) published on Thursday. In November 2019, the number of unemployed people aged 15-74 was 366,000, and in December 2018 - 359,000. According to the INS, the unemployment rate for men was 0.8 percentage points higher than that for women, the respective values being 4.2pct for men and 3.4pct for women. "For adult persons (25-74 years old), the unemployment rate was estimated at 2.9pct for December 2019 (3.3pct for men and 2.4pct for women). The number of unemployed persons aged 25 -74 years represented 68.7pct of the total number of the jobless estimated for December 2019," says the INS. Unemployment rate represents the share of the unemployed in the active population. AGERPRES (RO - author: Andreea Marinescu, editor: Mariana Nica; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)