Austrian unemployment rate in March drops 1.8 pct

The Austrian unemployment rate dropped 1.8 percent in March, marking an apparent change of trend in the country's labor market, the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) stated on Monday.

The drop means that by the end of March, a total of 430,758 people in the country unemployed, 7,896 fewer than March of last year.

Actually, 354,072 people were registered as unemployed, a year-over-year drop of 3.7 percent, the largest seen in the past five years.

Notable in the figures is that the number of persons enrolled in further schooling or training, counted among the overall jobless persons, also increased a significant 7.9 percent.

By Austria's own calculation, its unemployment rate is thus presently 8.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of available jobs saw a significant 44.5 percent increase to 53,142.

Significant improvements were recorded in the construction and production of goods sectors, AMS head Johannes Kopf noted.

Still problematic however was unemployment in the 50-and-over age bracket, which saw an increase of 5 percent reaching 107,362 persons.

Kopf said the figures represent a change in the long-standing trend of rising unemployment, and indicate that an economic upswing is in progress.

Social Affairs Minister Alois Stoeger also saw the figures as a positive sign, and pointed out the "Action 20,000" initiative implemented by his ministry to tackle the problem area of unemployment among people aged 50 and over. Enditem