Jobs agency Adem reported less unemployment and more vacancies but the number of long-term jobseekers remained high  Libraray photo: Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne

Jobs agency Adem reported less unemployment and more vacancies but the number of long-term jobseekers remained high  Libraray photo: Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne

Luxembourg’s unemployment rate returned to its pre-pandemic level in October, but the number of young jobseekers dropped sharply, long-term unemployment remains high.

In total, jobs agency Adem reported 15,417 jobseekers at the end of October, down from 17,971 the same month last year. The unemployment rate stood at 5.4%, the level it held between October 2019 and February 2020. It climbed sharply, hitting 7% amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide lockdown between March and May last year.

The number of jobseekers under the age of 30 dropped by 22.8% year-on-year, a trend much less marked for those aged 45 or older (-8.1%). And while more people with higher education degrees found jobs (16% drop in unemployment year-on-year), jobseekers with lower secondary (13.7%) and upper secondary (13.5%) education weren’t far behind.

However, long-term unemployment remained stubbornly high. More than half of resident jobseekers (52%) have been signed up with Adem for over a year. And the number of long-term jobseekers decreased more slowly (-9.2%) than that of people registered with Adem for a shorter period of time.

On the plus side, vacancies remained high with 3,909 jobs newly posted with Adem in October--an increase of 33.4% compared to last year. The total number of vacancies posted with Adem was at 11,076--an increase of 52.2% compared to 2020.