More job vacancies in private sector

The number of job vacancies increased marginally. At the end of December, 130 thousand jobs were vacant, i.e. 4 thousand more than at the end of September. The private sector accounted for the increase. The number of vacancies in the private sector was about 6 thousand higher than in the preceding quarter. The number of job vacancies in the public sector declined. The figures are adjusted for seasonal variation.

In the course of 2010, the number of job vacancies increased most notably in the sector commercial services. In this sector, 76 thousand jobs were vacant by the end of December; 25 thousand in trade and 21 thousand in business services. In the sector manufacturing and energy, 21 thousand jobs were vacant by the end of December.

The vacancy rate, i.e. the number of vacancies per one thousand jobs is an indicator for the tightness of the labour market. The vacancy rate stood unchanged at 16 in the fourth quarter and has been at this level for nearly two years.

The labour market was more dynamic than one year previously. In the fourth quarter of 2010, 181 thousand new vacancies were created, 10 thousand more than in the fourth quarter of 2009. The number of filled vacancies also rose; 180 thousand job vacancies were filled, compared with 176 thousand in the same period of 2009.

Job vacancies, seasonally adjusted

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.