Unemployment in tourism is twice as high as last year, but has stabilized slightly since the beginning of the year.
The number of unemployed, including training participants, rose to a total of 535,470 at the end of January, according to the latest AMS data. That is a quarter higher than last year. Of these, 468,330 were registered as unemployed and 67,140 were in training. Compared to the previous month, this means an increase of 14,551 people.
Problem child tourism
The biggest problem child remains because of the Corona protective measures, tourism, where the winter season has so far been almost completely canceled. As a result, unemployment has more than doubled year-on-year to 72,668. The trade (61,871) and – due to the season – the construction sector (66,148) recorded high increases in the number of unemployed.
The comparison of federal states also reflects the closure in tourism. The federal states of Tyrol (+ 132.2%), Salzburg (+ 79.7%) and Vorarlberg (+ 57.5%) are particularly affected by the rise in unemployment. According to the national definition, the unemployment rate is currently 11.4 percent. That is an increase of 2.8 percentage points year-on-year.
Short-time working helps to stabilize the increase slightly. At the end of January, around 470,000 people were on short-time work.
Minister Martin Kocher
Unemployment “at a constant level”
Labor Minister Martin Kocher speaks of a “very difficult situation” on the labor market. Above all, the lockdown, which is necessary due to the epidemiological situation, is noticeable. “Despite all the challenges, it is positive that unemployment has remained at a relatively constant level throughout January and that there has been an increase in training participants,” said the minister. This shows that the Corona job offensive with its qualification offer is already having an effect.
