Unemployment in Bulgaria decreased to 5.1% in March 2021 – Eurostat
Unemployment in Bulgaria in March 2021 was 5.1 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in January and 5.5 per cent in February, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released on April 30 by European Union statistics agency Eurostat.
However, the figure was higher than the 4.4 per cent recorded in March 2020, the month that Bulgaria declared a State of Emergency because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Eurostat, the March 2020 figure represented an estimated 145 000 unemployed people in Bulgaria. The March 2021 percentage represented an estimated 169 000 people.
Youth unemployment in Bulgaria also decreased in March 2021, according to Eurostat.
The March 2021 figure for unemployed under-25s in Bulgaria was 14.9 per cent (an estimated 20 000 people), down from 17.1 per cent in January (about 25 000 people) and 16.9 per cent in February (about 24 000 people).
It too was up compared with March 2020, when 13.3 per cent of under-25s in Bulgaria – about 16 000 people – were unemployed.
Bulgaria’s overall unemployment rate remains lower than the EU average, which in March 2021 was 7.3 per cent, down from 7.4 per cent in February 2021 and up from 6.4 per cent in March 2020.
Eurostat said that in March 2021, the euro zone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent, down from 8.2 per cent in February 2021 and up from 7.1 per cent in March 2020.
In March 2021, 2.951 million young people (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.373 million were in the euro zone.
In March 2021, the youth unemployment rate was 17.1 per cent in the EU and 17.2 per cent in the euro zone, compared with 17.2 per cent and 17.3 per cent, respectively, in the previous month.
Compared with February 2021, youth unemployment decreased by 14 000 in the EU and by 17 000 in the euro zone.
Compared with March 2020, youth unemployment increased by 319 000 in the EU and by 208 000 in the euro zone, Eurostat said.
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