Unemployment increases drastically: +23.100 in May 2025!

Unemployment increases drastically: +23.100 in May 2025!

The labor market in Austria shows negative development at the end of May 2025, unemployment rose by 23,100 people or 8.5 % compared to the previous year. The tab unemployment rate is now 6.9 %, which corresponds to an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to May 2024, such as OTS reported. A total of around 375,347 people are unemployed or take part in AMS training courses, which corresponds to an increase of 24,196 or 6.9 % in the annual comparison.

The increase in unemployment in women with 10.5 % and 6.9 % is particularly striking in women. Youth unemployment also exceeds the German average with an increase of 10.9 %. It is also striking that the number of immediately available apprenticeship seekers has increased by 17.8 % or 1,089 people, which indicates a growing need for training positions.

long -term unemployment and shortage of skilled workers

Another worrying trend is the increase in long -term employment. Around 91,000 people have been noted at the AMS for at least one year, which corresponds to an increase of 9,500 or 12 %. This illustrates the challenges that arise from permanent unemployment.

Employment remains stable in some areas, with a total number of 3,965,000 employees in our own employees in May 2025 - an increase of 2,000 compared to the previous year. Of the total of 3,904,000 active employees, older workers (50+) record 13,000 new jobs and thus 1,189,000 employees in this group. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Korinna Schumann emphasizes the importance of better using the potential of these older workers to strengthen the labor market.

outlook and initiatives

The authorities have already announced initiatives to cope with the challenges on the labor market. For 2026, projects such as "Aktion 55Plus" are planned to integrate older long -term unemployed into the labor market. This measure could be an important step to reduce the increasing number of long -term unemployed and at the same time counteract the shortage of skilled workers.

The need for young specialists remains high, especially in the areas of craft and technology, which shows that companies have difficulty difficult to fill vacancies. In 2023, 62 % of companies reported a strong shortage of skilled workers, especially in craft professions, such as Statista delivers additional context information on the labor market situation in Austria

Developments on the labor market raise basic questions about employment opportunities and strategies. It remains to be seen how the planned initiatives and forecasts will cope with the structural challenges.