20.05.2022

KEY INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

Data from the Labor Force Survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute

The economic activity rate for the population aged 15-64 is 72.0%, increasing by 0.6 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2021.

The employment rate for the population aged 15-64 increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2021 and reached 68.4%.

The unemployment rate is 4.9%, or 1.4 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 2021.

The discouraged persons aged 15-64 are 55.3 thousand, or 4.5% of the economically inactive persons in the same age group.

Employment

In the first quarter of 2022 the total number of employed persons was 3,068.3 thousand, of which 1,632.2 thousand were men and 1,436.0 thousand were women. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the number of employees increased by 1.3%. The relative share of employed persons in the population aged 15 and over is 52.7%, as for men this share is 58.6%, and for women - 47.3%.

In the first quarter of 2022 1,982.8 thousand or 64.6% of the employed employed in the services sector, 906.6 thousand (29.5%) in industry and 178.9 thousand (5.8%) in rural, forestry and fishing farm. Compared to the same quarter of 2021 the number of employed persons increased in the services sector by 94.9 thousand (5.0%), decreased in the industry sector by 55.5 thousand (5.8%) and remained almost unchanged in the rural sector, forestry and fisheries.

Of all employees, 3.7% (114.1 thousand) are employers, 6.3% (193.0 thousand) - self-employed (excluding employees), 89.5% (2,744.9 thousand) - employees, and 0.5% (16.2 thousand) - unpaid family workers. Of the total number of employees, 2,101.3 thousand (76.6%) work in the private sector and 643.6 thousand (23.4%) in the public sector.

In the first quarter of 2022, employment in different age groups is as follows:

The employed persons aged 15 - 64 years are 2 975.3 thousand. The employment rate for the population in the same age group was 68.4% (71.8% for men and 64.9% for women).

The employment rate for the population aged 15-29 is 36.3% (40.2% for men and 32.2% for women).

The employment rate for the population aged 20-64 was 73.7%, respectively 77.4% for men and 69.8% for women. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the employment rate (20-64 years of age) increased by 2.0 percentage points, by 1.2 percentage points for men and by 2.6 percentage points for women.

The employed persons aged 55-64 were 601.4 thousand, or 66.0% of the population in the same age group (70.7% of men and 61.7% of women).

Unemployment

In the first quarter of 2022 the number of unemployed persons was 158.7 thousand, of which 84.3 thousand (53.1%) were men and 74.4 thousand (46.9%) were women. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 45.3 thousand, or by 22.2%. Over the same period the unemployment rate decreased by 1.4 percentage points and reached 4.9%. The unemployment rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points for men and by 1.1 percentage points for women and in the first quarter of 2022 its value was the same for men and women.

Of all unemployed persons, 10.6% have higher education, 52.1% - secondary education, and 37.3% - primary or lower education. Unemployment rates by level of education are 1.6% for higher education, 4.6% for secondary education and 16.4% for primary and lower education, respectively.

In the first quarter of 2022 the share of persons with unemployment of less than one year and that of the long-term unemployed (unemployed for one year or more) is almost the same - respectively 49.7% (78.8 thousand) and 50.3% (79.9 thousand). ). The long-term unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2021 and reached 2.5%, remaining higher for men (2.7%) than for women (2.2%).

Of the total number of unemployed, 19.2 thousand, or 12.1%, are looking for their first job.

In the first quarter of 2022 the unemployment rate for the age group 15 - 29 years was 8.3% (8.1% for men and 8.6% for women), and compared to the same quarter of 2021 was lower by 2.7 percent point. A decrease in the unemployment rate (15-29 years of age) was registered only for men - by 5.0 percentage points, while for women there was an increase in this indicator by 0.4 percentage points.

Economic inactivity

In the first quarter of 2022 the total number of economically inactive persons (persons outside the labor force) aged 15 and over was 2,594.3 thousand, of which 1,068.9 thousand (41.2%) were men and 1,525.3 thousand (58.8 %) - women. The economically inactive persons aged 15-64 are 1,216.7 thousand, or 28.0% of the population in the same age group. More than a third of them (455.3 thousand) are inactive due to participation in education or training.

Methodological notes

The labor force survey is sampled and conducted continuously, providing quarterly and annual data on the economic activity of the population aged 15 and over. It covers ordinary households in the country.

Observed period - the characteristics of each respondent refer to his condition during a certain calendar week.

The economically active population (labor force) includes all employed and unemployed persons.

Employed are persons aged 15 - 89 years, who during the observed period:

- perform work even for one hour, for which they receive a salary or other income;

- do not work, but have a job from which they are temporarily absent due to annual leave, illness, leave at birth and raising a small child and others.

Unemployed are persons aged 15 - 74 who:

- have no work during the observed period;

- actively looking for work for a period of four weeks, incl. the observed or have already found a job that they expect to start within three months after the end of the observed period;

- have the opportunity to start work within two weeks after the end of the observed period.

Persons who have been unemployed for one or more years are long-term unemployed.

Economically inactive (persons outside the labor force) are persons aged 15 and over who are neither employed nor unemployed during the observed period, incl. all persons aged 90 and over.

Persons outside the labor force aged 15-74 who wish to work but are not actively looking for work because they assume that they will not find a suitable job are discouraged.

Coefficient of economic activity - the relative share of economically active persons in the population in the same age group.

Employment rate - the relative share of employed persons in the population aged 15 and over or in the respective age group.

Unemployment rate - the relative share of the unemployed in the economically active population.

Long-term unemployment rate - the relative share of the long-term unemployed in the economically active population.

In estimating the results for the first quarter of 2022, data on the population of the country as of 31.12.2021 were used, excluding the population living in collective households.

As with any sample survey, the Labor Force Survey data is fraught with sampling errors (stochastic errors). The relative standard errors for the main indicators of the survey in the first quarter of 2022 are:

- total number of employees - 1.4%;

- total number of unemployed persons - 5.6%;

- unemployment rate - 5.4%.

Due to the roundings made, in some cases the total data may differ slightly from the sum of the individual groups included in them.

More detailed data from the Labor Force Survey for the first quarter of 2022 can be found on the NSI website - www.nsi.bg, section Labor Market, Labor Force Survey.