Unemployment rises fastest in Lower Austria

Unemployment rose 7.7% in Lower Austria in September, the sharpest increase in Austria, the Arbeitsmarktservice (AMS) said, according to ORF.

Across Austria, 381,200 people were registered as unemployed or in training with the AMS, up 6,000, or 1.6%, from September 2025. In Lower Austria, 56,613 people were registered as unemployed or in training. The number registered as unemployed alone was 46,163, also the country’s largest increase year on year.

The rise in unemployment in Lower Austria was steeper among women. There were 2,285 more women registered as unemployed than a year earlier, an increase of 11.3%. The number of unemployed men rose by 1,004, or 4.4%.

By the end of September, the AMS had matched 59,996 people with vacant jobs, 0.5% more than in the same period last year. However, Lower Austria had around 12,600 vacancies, down 3.4% from September 2025. The number of apprenticeship vacancies fell 2.3% to 915.

“Supply and demand often do not match straight away,” said AMS Lower Austria managing director Sandra Kern. Susanne Rosenkranz, Lower Austria’s state councillor for the labour market, said targeted training was important and cited the Lower Austria education grant and other training programmes funded with the AMS.