Jobseeker Numbers Revert to Pre-Pandemic Levels, Women Remain Most Affected

As of 31 October 2021, 15,417 resident jobseekers in Luxembourg were registered with national unemployment agency (ADEM), a 14% drop from October 2020 (17,971) and marginally higher than pre-pandemic levels (15,036 in October 2019).

Unemployment had increased across all age-groups in October 2020 compared to October 2019, both for males and females and the 30 to 45 age group were most affected. In October 2021, unemployment levels had reverted to around those recorded in October 2019.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in October 2021 was 5.4%, the same as in October 2019 and lower than the 6.3% recorded in October 2020. The highest unemployment rate over the past two years was recorded in May 2020 (7.0%), according to data provided by the national statistics agency, STATEC.

In terms of gender, the female unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) in Luxembourg was 5.5% in October 2021 compared to 4.7% for men, data from the European statistics agency, EUROSTAT, showed. Both male and female unemployment rates are decreasing from the peaks recorded in May / June 2020. However, unemployment among women remained consistently higher than among men, showing a quick recovery for the latter - even better than the unemployment rates recorded over the past six years (the unemployment rate of 4.7% in October 2021 was the lowest since January 2016).

In contrast, women have lagged behind by an average of 1% for last twelve months. In absolute terms, 461 more women than men were registered with ADEM as of October 2021.