In August actual unemployment rate comprised 6.9 % and registered – 6.5 %

Data of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in August 2021 actual unemployment rate comprised 6.9 %, which is 0.6 percentage points less than in July. The actual unemployment rate in the country has not been this low since December 2019 (6.6 %).

The unemployment rate for females decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 5.7 % in August, but for males by 0.7 percentage points to 8.1 %.

The unemployment rate registered by the State Employment Agency (SEA) was 6.5 %, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than in July. Compared to August of the previous year, the actual unemployment rate has decreased by 1.5 percentage points, the registered unemployment rate - by 1.7 percentage points.

In August 2021, there were 64.7 thousand unemployed persons in Latvia (26.8 thousand females and 37.9 thousand males), which is 5.5 thousand less than in July and 17.1 thousand less than in the corresponding period last year, when the first state of emergency had been declared in the country already for five months. The number of unemployed females has decreased by 1.8 thousand from July to August and the number of unemployed males - by 3.7 thousand. The number of unemployed persons has decreased by 10.9 thousand since the declaration of the second state of emergency in November 2020, when several face-to-face services were restricted.

Registered unemployment rate is calculated based on the SEA data and results of LFS conducted by the CSB. Unadjusted monthly estimates of the survey are used for calculations of the actual unemployment rate. SEA data concerns only the population of working age.

CSB reminds that during the time of change it is important to obtain the information on population employment in order to assess impact of the current situation on the national economic and social processes and therefore is asking population to be active and participate in surveys. CSB would like to thank everyone who took part in surveys and helped to assess the effect of the current situation on national processes. 

Registered unemployment rate by month is available on – SEA website
The methodology of monthly assessments performed by the CSB is available in the descriptive metadata section of the Official Statistics Portal Employment and unemployment
Seasonal Adjustment of Time Series During COVID-19 Crisis
Socio-economic indicators of the emergency situation are available on the Official Statistics Portal Covid-19 thematic section

Media requests:
Communication Section
E-mail: media@csp.gov.lv
Phone.: +371 27880666

More information on data:
Santa Zaļkalne
Social Statistics Data Compilation and Analysis Section
E-mail: Santa.Zalkalne@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366990