Fewer job vacancies

There were 118 thousand job vacancies at the end of March 2012, i.e. 5 thousand fewer than at the end of December 2011.The number of job vacancies fell for the third quarter in a row. Job vacancy figures are adjusted for seasonal variation.

The number of job vacancies in the private sector decreased most notably in manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, health care and financial institutions. In other branches the number hardly changed. The number of vacancies in the public sector also remained stable.

The number of vacancies per one thousand jobs - the so-called vacancy rate - is an indicator for the degree of tension on the labour market. The vacancy rate for the first quarter was 15, the same as in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The labour market was less dynamic. In the first quarter, 169 thousand new vacancies were created, i.e. 28 thousand fewer than in first quarter of 2011. The number of filled or terminated vacancies amounted to 168 thousand, i.e. 14 thousand fewer than in the first quarter of 2011.

Job vacancies, seasonally adjusted