Albania’s unemployment rate has reached 11.4% the first trimester of 2020. 61.4% of the population aged 15-64 was employed during this period.
Compared to the same period of 2019, the unemployment rate has decreased by 0.7%, whereas compared to the last trimester of 2019, it grew 0.2%.
The male unemployment rate is 11.0%, while the female unemployment rate is 11.9%. Compared to the same period in 2019, unemployment fell by 1.2% for men, while women’s unemployment saw no changes.
The youth (15-30) unemployment rate has decreased by 2.2%, though it remains relatively high at 20%.
The remaining 27.2% of the working age (15-64) population are classified as economically inactive. 18.5% of them, mostly women, stay at home;11.7% were retired; and 11.5% were permanently disabled. 11% stated that they were not looking for a job as they did not believe any were available, and are classified as discouraged workers. Additionally, 71.2% of economically inactive youth (15-29) are students.
With the country going into quarantine in mid-March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the second trimester of 2020 will likely see a spike in unemployment. During April, alone, at least 60,000 Albanians lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
