THE INCREASE IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE LAST FOUR MONHTS EXCEEDS ONE MILLION
Since the number of unemployed persons increased by 2 thousand and employment rose by 236 thousand, the labor force rose by 238 thousand. As a result, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 11.2% from November to December. According to the sectorial data, employment in all sectors, except for the agriculture sector, increased. Employment in the industry sector rose by 108 thousand and it exceeded 6 million 500 thousand. Employment in the services and the construction sectors expanded by 134 thousand and 5 thousand, respectively. The cumulative increase in employment in the services sector reached 685 thousand in the last four months. Employment in the agriculture sector declined by 10 thousand.
Seasonally adjusted female unemployment rate dropped by 0.5 pp MoM to 13.8% as the increases in female employment and female labor force reached 142 thousand and 100 thousand, respectively. On the other hand, seasonally adjusted male unemployment rate rose by 0.2 pp to 9,9% following the rises in male employment and male labor force by 94 thousand and 137 thousand, respectively. In December, female employment expanded more than female labor force, and the number of unemployed females decreased by 42 thousand while the number of unemployed males increased by 43 thousand. Following these developments, the gender gap in the unemployment rates of females and males markedly declined by 0.7 pp to 3.9%. To remind, the gap had risen from 3.8% to 4.6% in the last month.