End of December 2024 426,012 people were looking for a job, which is 27,007 more than at the end of 2023. 352,873 were unemployed at the end of the year, 73,139 people were in AMS training. The unemployment rate was 8.3 percent at the end of December, and at the same time there was a record employment rate. In 2024, the average unemployment rate was 7 percent; the average over the past ten years – including the corona pandemic – was 8 percent.
Compared to 2023, unemployment among women rose more sharply to 15,095 (plus 9.5 percent) than among men, where there was an increase of 11,912 (5 percent). At the end of December, 112,528 people aged 50 and over were registered with the AMS as unemployed or in training, an increase of 5.9 percent. Youth unemployment was 67,658 people, an increase of 9.9 percent. Year-on-year, the increase in unemployment affected foreigners more (plus 10.3 percent) than domestic residents (plus 5 percent). For comparison: In December, 206,547 nationals and 146,328 foreigners were registered as unemployed.
206,547 nationals and 146,328 foreigners registered as unemployed
The increase in December of a total of 27,000 job seekers within one year corresponds to an increase of 6.8 percent. The fact that the increase was not higher is thanks to the improving economy in construction. Unemployment in this sector fell by over five percent. However, it is still too early to conclude that there will be a recovery in construction, according to AMS boss Johannes Kopf. “The recession, which has lasted more than two years, is still clearly noticeable on the labor market: industry is showing the strongest increase at almost 14 percent and unemployment in retail is also rising by around 10 percent, despite the reported satisfaction with sales in the Christmas business percent,” said the AMS board.
Looking at the federal states, the industrial region of Upper Austria was particularly affected; here the number of job seekers rose by 10.8 percent year-on-year, followed by Salzburg with 8.7 percent. The increase was lowest in Carinthia (0.7 percent). And once again it becomes clear that academics in particular no longer have a job guarantee. Of all training levels, they have the highest growth rates in unemployment and training at 16.8 percent.
Big apprenticeship gap
In any case, unemployment among young people is notable. If the rate for all job seekers is 5.6 percent according to Eurostat calculations, it is a whopping 11.4 percent for people under 25 (figures from October 2024). In a European comparison, Austria had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate across all age groups in October 2024, which was the European average of 5.9 percent. For young people, the EU average was 15.2 percent, with model students in Germany only having a rate of 6.5 percent.
With 3,912,000 employed people, there was a record number of employees at the end of 2024. The number has increased by 11,000 since the beginning of the previous year. However, the number of vacancies reported to the AMS fell slightly to 80,740. On average for 2014-2024, the number was 63,396 at the end of each year.
“The rise in unemployment is slowing down. The current data also shows that the unemployment rate is at a lower level than at the end of 2019, when the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent – before the outbreak of the corona pandemic and the war of aggression Russia on Ukraine,” said Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) on Thursday. The Austrian labor market is bracing itself against the global weak growth.
Increase in unemployment numbers slowed slightly
Together with the AMS, the government focused on training and further education measures, so that over 270,000 people were able to gain higher qualifications in 2024. “Thanks to the second largest per capita budget for active labor market policy, the framework conditions for rapid and effective training and further education for unemployed people were in place in 2024,” said Kocher. He pointed out that unemployment increased by an average of 33,121 people in the first quarter year-on-year; in the fourth quarter of the year, the smallest increase in the number of people registered with the AMS was observed, with an increase of 30,390 people.
Today the Economic Association once again pointed out the many job offers. According to this, the company’s own job monitor shows 153,756 open positions. There are 12,449 jobs available in the construction sector, 14,587 in the office and marketing sector and 15,254 in the catering and hotel industry. There are as many as 22,675 jobs available in the IT and telecommunications sector, which is often referred to as the industry of the future.
AK President Renate Anderl emphasized today that unemployment has risen continuously and the bankruptcies of the past few months have shown how quickly large waves of layoffs can occur. “If we don’t react quickly, the bad news won’t stop in 2025,” she said.
“Investments in active labor market policy and an immediate halt to staff cuts at the AMS are therefore urgently needed,” said the AK President. Increasing unemployment benefits and adjusting unemployment insurance benefits for inflation are also “more important than ever.” “The government has watched for far too long and missed developments,” said Anderl. The labor market data published today show a worrying trend, warned ÖGB Federal Managing Director Helene Schuberth and is calling on the new federal government to significantly increase the budget for the AMS.
No decline expected in Vienna in the 2025 election year
In the federal capital Vienna, the number of people registered as unemployed or in training rose by 7.3 percent to 35,087 in December – although, according to AMS Vienna, younger people were particularly affected. An increase of 12.6 percent was recorded among those under 25 years of age. Among those affected over the age of 50, the increase was only 6 percent. Unemployment has risen most sharply in goods production, retail and the hotel and catering industry.
The increase for the full year 2024 was reported at 9.2 percent. According to the AMS, the forecast for the year 2025 – in which a new local council will be elected in Vienna in the autumn – is “moderate”. Although higher economic and employment growth is expected for the city than in Austria as a whole, a decline in unemployment is not to be hoped for, it was said. At least the increase should decrease.
“Unemployment will continue to rise in Vienna this year, expected to be in the mid-single-digit range over the course of the year, although the pace should decrease further in the second half of the year,” said AMS Vienna deputy head Katharina Luger. According to the AMS, the last thing that will help is the fact that the baby boomers are leaving the workforce and jobs are becoming available as a result.
Gloomy outlook for the manufacturing sector
For the FPÖ, its social spokeswoman Dagmar Belakowitsch identified the culprits for the high unemployment in the people’s party. “The ÖVP with its loser Chancellor (Karl) Nehammer and the Labor and Economics Minister (Martin) Kocher show what will happen to the labor market in the country. The data from last December is frightening, unemployment is rising and rising.” Their conclusion: “If citizens have to stand on the streets because of a black-green government of misery, whitewashing and horse-trading are out of place and only more embarrassing.”
And IV boss Georg Knill also had words of warning in the APA conversation: “De-industrialization is taking place.” In any case, his outlook is not rosy. “Unemployment in the manufacturing sector will likely continue to rise in 2025.”
SPÖ social spokesman Josef Muchitsch, in turn, emphasized: “Austria needs a program for recovery, growth and employment.” First of all, a new government must do everything it can to get the economy and the labor market going again. The increase in unemployment in industry must be seen as a warning signal for the situation of the export economy and downstream sectors of the economy, noted the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ). For the WKÖ General Secretary Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, who has been new since the beginning of the year, strengthening the labor market and competitiveness must be the focus of the new government. “We are noticing that it is becoming increasingly difficult to sell our products competitively on the global market. Our economy is no longer competitive in many areas,” is his analysis.