VIENNA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Austria's unemployment rate increased slightly from 5.1 percent to 5.2 percent in 2024 compared to a year ago, with the number of unemployed climbing to 244,300, official data showed on Tuesday.
The long-term unemployment rate, which reflects the share of unemployed persons whose unemployment has already lasted one year or longer, stood at 1.1 percent, remaining unchanged compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Austria. However, the average duration of unemployment increased from 3 months to 4 months.
The country's gross domestic product shrank by 1.1 percent in real terms in 2024 compared to 2023, marking the country's second consecutive annual economic contraction.
According to international definition, an average of 4,488,800 people aged 15 and above were employed in 2024, almost unchanged from the previous year, said Statistics Austria.
The majority of the employed persons were employees, taking up around 88 percent of the total, while around 11 percent were self-employed. About 1 percent worked unpaid in the family business as family workers, the data showed.
Of the total employees, 72.8 percent worked in the service sector. Employees in the industry and commerce sector accounted for just 26.5 percent of the workforce.
Those who worked in agriculture and forestry only took up 0.7 percent of the workforce, with the vast majority of them being self-employed or family workers. ■
