Upper Austria records more unemployed women than men

Upper Austria had more unemployed women than men for the first time, ORF reported, as the state’s labour market remained relatively stable in August despite economic uncertainty. The unemployment rate was 5.3 percent, the third-lowest among Austria’s provinces, behind Tyrol and Salzburg.

A total of 39,324 people were registered as unemployed with the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) in Upper Austria in August. Of these, 19,810 were women, an increase of 1,346, or 7.3 percent, from the same month last year. Unemployment among men rose by 1 percent.

“We have been monitoring female unemployment for months. We now actually have more unemployed women than men in Upper Austria, which is unusual for our economic location,” AMS Upper Austria managing director Iris Schmidt said.

Schmidt attributed the increase mainly to challenges in the retail sector. Textile, electronics and furniture businesses are competing with online retailers, and many women work in these areas. When shops close, she said, it becomes harder for those workers to find jobs elsewhere in retail.

Although female unemployment has risen across all age groups, women aged 60 to under 65 are particularly affected. Their unemployment rate is 34 percent, the highest by a clear margin, Schmidt said. Women in this age group also face particular difficulty returning to the labour market.

Long-term unemployment has also increased significantly. In August, 11,560 people had been unemployed for a long period, 17.3 percent more than a year earlier. Schmidt said the AMS had seen the first effects of recent interventions and changes to its support strategies over the past two months. In Steyr, for example, the increase was 7.7 percent, below the Austrian average.

The number of vacancies reported to the AMS rose to 20,765 in August, up 7.3 percent from the previous year. Schmidt said this created greater opportunities for people with few formal qualifications and those with technical qualifications. The sectors particularly affected included temporary staffing, with 8,004 vacancies, as well as retail, manufacturing, construction and skilled trades.

Upper Austrian Governor Thomas Stelzer of the Austrian People’s Party said the province still had “strong substance” despite the economic situation, but warned that it could not rely on that alone. Economic Affairs Minister Markus Achleitner, also of the Austrian People’s Party, called for better conditions for businesses to encourage more investment.

Hans Karl Schaller, the Social Democratic Party’s spokesman for labour-market issues, called for a package of measures to address rising female unemployment. If women were now the majority among unemployed people for the first time, he said, the state government could no longer stand by and watch.