Overall, the most recent employment data indicate a gradual recovery in labor market activity, and similar trends are expected to continue in the second half of the year. At the same time, as labor demand increases, so do the risks of labor shortages.
According to the Central Statistical Bureau’s labor force survey, in the second quarter of 2025, the number of employed persons increased by 0.8%, or 6.9 thousand, compared to the second quarter of 2024. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, employment increased by 21.3 thousand, or 2.5%.
The employment rate rose to 64.9% in the second quarter, which is 1.7 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter. Compared to the second quarter of 2024, the employment rate increased by 0.6 percentage points.
The overall employment growth in the second quarter was driven by both seasonal factors – the start of the summer season and an increase in seasonal work – as well as by rising economic activity in certain sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing and construction.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in the second quarter of 2025, which is 0.7 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 2025 (7.4%) and 0.2 percentage points lower than in the second quarter of 2024 (6.9%). Overall, the number of unemployed persons reached 63.7 thousand people aged 15–74, which is 5.8 thousand fewer than in the previous quarter.
It should be noted that the labor market still faces several challenges – limited labor supply, demographic pressure, and skills mismatches, which, under low unemployment conditions, may increase the risk of labor shortages in certain sectors.
At the same time, in the second quarter of 2025, the level of economic activity among the population continued to rise. It reached 69.6%, which is 0.5 percentage points higher than in the second quarter of 2024 (69.1%) and 1.3 percentage points higher than in the first quarter of 2025 (68.3%). This represents the highest level of economic activity since 2020. In the second quarter of 2025, the number of economically active individuals aged 15–74 reached 953.0 thousand, an increase of 4.8 thousand compared to the first half of the previous year (948.2 thousand).
Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, the overall labor market situation has gradually stabilized. At the same time, both the decrease in unemployment and the increase in economic activity indicate a growing risk of labor shortages, given the restrictive supply-side factors. The labor market situation is expected to continue improving in the second half of the year. Overall, the number of employed persons in 2025 could increase by an average of 0.4%, or approximately 4 thousand, compared to 2024, while the unemployment rate could fall to 6.5%.