Unemployment rate in Georgia decreased by 1.4 % y/y in Q4 2019

The unemployment rate in Georgia was 10.9 in the fourth quarter of 2019, less than 1.4 % compared to the same period of the previous year, the Georgian National Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

According to Geostat, the number of economically active population as 61.7 percent of the working age population (population aged 15 and older). Both the economic activity rate and the employment rate decreased by 1.9 and 0.8 % year to year, respectively. In urban settlements, the employment rate decreased by 0.7 %, while in rural settlements - by 0.8 %. In urban settlements the economic activity rate was decreased by 2.6 % compared to the same period of the previous year, while in rural settlements it decreased by 0.9 %.

In the reported period, the share of hired employees was 50.0 % among employed persons that decreased by 1.3 % compared to the same period of the previous year.

According to Geostat, the unemployment rate is much lower in rural than in urban settlements. In the IV quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate in urban settlements was reduced by 2.5 % compared to the same period of the previous year, while in rural settlements it decreased by 0.1 %.

Traditionally, the unemployment rate is higher for men than for women. In the reported period, the employment rate was 2.4 % higher for men compared to the women. In addition, in comparison to the same quarter of the previous year, the unemployment rate decreased for both women and men by 1.4 and 1.6 percentage point, respectively.

The activity rate is higher for men than for women. In the IV quarter of 2019 activity rate for women was 53.0 percent and for men - 71.5 percent. The activity rate for women was decreased by 2.6 and by 1.3 percentage point for men, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The employment rate for women decreased by 1.6 percentage point, while it remained the same for men, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.