VILNIUS COUNTY - Employment
Diverse situation in labour market
As in other Counties changes in employment have been greatly influenced by the restructuring of the Country's economy, by the privatisation process and population migration especially in Vilnius city. Between 1995 and 2001 the number of people employed in Vilnius county has decreased, although insignificantly (1.3%). Almost 80% of all persons employed in the country worked in Vilnius municipality in 2001.The number of employees by sex is with 49.3% of them as men. Between 2000 and 2002, the employ of the elderly (between 55-64 years) was higher for men than for women. The number of women at age-group 25-54 years is higher than men.
The overall employment structure differs substantially from the situation nationally. In 2002 the agricultural sector employed only 7.6 % of all Vilnius County's employed, a figure which is less than the national average. Industry employed some 30.2 % of all employees, whereas the services sector employed the highest percentage in Lithuania with almost two-thirds of all employees working in this area. The part-time employment now represents about 21 500 employees (6.7%) with some kind of fixed-term employment; it was one of lowest levels in the country especial among men at 3.9%.
In Vilnius county, 29 800 people or one in four in the county have been retrained or improved their skills in the period between 1995 and 2002.
The unemployment rate among those registered as unemployed at the National Labour Exchange was at its highest level in 2001 (10 %), but was still below the national average. The comparatively low unemployment rate in Vilnius County influenced the general situation in the labour market. The highest unemployment rate in Vilnius was recorded in 2000 when it reached 8%. Unemployment levels in 2002 varied between 6.1 % in Vilnius city and 21.1 % in
Šalcininkai district.
According to the Labour Exchange data unemployment among women increased until 1996, and thereafter fell somewhat so that 14 300 women were registered as unemployed in 1998. In 1999 -2001 the number of unemployed women increased from 16 580 to 22 694, but in 2002 again decreased to 19 932. The number of unemployed youth during 1998-2002 increased from 10 747 to 14 287, in 2002 it narrowly decreased. But the share of youth unemployment of total unemployment was constantly decreasing from 17.2 % in 1997 to 11.4 % in 2002.
People who had previously worked in the service sector accounted for 43% of all the unemployed registered in 2002, and 27% had worked in industry.
According to data from the Labour Force Survey the unemployment rate in the county in 2002, at 14.5%, was higher than the national average, with the male unemployment rate at 15.1% and the female unemployment rate at 14%. The number of unemployed previously employed by sector of activity is very similar as in other counties. More than fifty percent previously were employed in trade activity, of them 58.4% were women.
The majority of unemployed (51.7%) in 2002, by duration of unemployment, had been out of work over a year: 49.2% in men and 54% in women.
Over a third of Lithuania's hired employees worked in Vilnius County in 2001, and their wages and salaries were 17 % higher than average and are the highest in the country in terms of overall average earnings.
Almost one fifth of the county's employees work in manufacturing, where average earnings were lower than average earnings in the county, but higher than average earnings in the manufacturing sector. The highest wages and salaries were earned by those working in financial services, where earnings were well above those paid on average in this sector, and were also 2 times higher than the average county's and national salary. This sector employs almost 4 % of all employees in the county. While average wages and salaries in the trade sector in other counties are below average, in Vilnius County they are above average.
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