In the second quarter of 2020, the number of employees in Serbia was 2,844,000, and the number of unemployed was 222,900. The employment rate for that period is 48.2 percent, and the unemployment rate is 7.3 percent, the Republic Statistical Office (SORS) announced.
According to the Labor Force Survey for the second quarter of 2020, the population aged 15 and over saw a decrease in employment by about 33,000 and unemployment by about 87,000, due to an increase in the number of inactive citizens by about 113,000 compared to the first quarter of 2020.
There was a decrease in employment in the informal sector by about 35,000, while in the formal sector there was a slight increase in employment by slightly more than 2,000.
The employment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points and amounted to 48.2 percent, while the unemployment rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points and amounted to 7.3 percent.
The inactivity rate increased by 2 percentage points and reached the level of 48 percent, it is stated in the announcement of the SSO.
The stagnation in the labor market in the second quarter of 2020 is 19.9 percent and, compared to the same period last year, is higher by 0.4 percent, which suggests that the labor market has seen an increase in the so-called unmet need for employment, without considering that the unemployment rate decreased more noticeably in the mentioned period.
In the second quarter of 2020, 11.4 percent of employees were absent from work, which is 2.4 percent more than in the first quarter of 2020, and 6 percentage points more compared to the same period last year.
Work from home in the second quarter of 2020 amounted to 12.1 percent, which is 2.9 percent more than in the first quarter of 2020, and 4 percent more compared to the same period last year.
The average hours worked on a weekly basis at the main job per employee in the second quarter of 2020 were 36.2 and, compared to the first quarter of 2020, remained unchanged, while compared to the same period last year, when amounted to 39.1, down 7.5 percent, Nova Ekonomija reports.
