Luxembourg unemployment continued below the 5% threshold last month, with the unemployment rate at the end of April at 4.7%, stable from the month before.

Of 2,516 people who newly signed up with Adem, 221 were refugees from Ukraine who have the right to work in Luxembourg under the EU’s temporary protection mechanism.

Just under 14,270 jobseekers were registered with Adem and immediately available to work, a decrease of 21.8% compared to the year before. This does not include cross-border workers who sign up with the Luxembourg job centre to find a new job.

Long-term unemployment, however, remained stubbornly high with people who have been out of work for a year or more accounting for nearly half of jobseekers (48.7%). More people with lower secondary qualifications (6,396) were looking for work than those with higher education diplomas (3,478).

Younger people were also quicker to find work with the number of under-30s looking for a job down 29.8% in April 2022 compared to last year, dropping to 2,573. This decrease was much slower for over-45s. In this age bracket, 6,272 people were looking for work last month, down 16.3% compared to April 2021.

The number of people on full unemployment benefits dropped by 23% year-on-year, with 7,764 people on the dole.

At the same time, there were fewer requests by companies to let staff work reduced hours. Under the partial unemployment scheme, companies can request state support to cover 80% of staff salaries while they are out of work. The programme aims to protect jobs by allowing people to come back when activity picks up.

Requested ahead of time, 527 will receive the state subsidy in June, helping pay for the wages of the equivalent of 10,185 full-time employees. This is down from 11,684 in May.