Slovakia registered the lowest unemployment level of 5.88% for October since the splitting of Czechoslovakia in January 1993. The October figures also registered the lowest number of job applicants – 163,841 – since 1993.

“Slovakia reached historically lowest unemployment since its foundation in 1993,” Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, Erik Tomas (Hlas) commented, adding that “the lowest unemployment values are also based on the new criteria of evaluating the unemployment, which are valid since January of 2021.”  

The figure of 5.88% was used in order to compare the data since 1993, Tomas pointed out during the press conference on November 19.

The share of job applicants in the productive age population was 4.51%, which is down from 4.57% in September. The share of available job applicants in the population in productive age was 3.77%, which is also the most relevant figure, Tomas stated. In comparison to the September figure, the unemployment inched down by 0.06 pp from 3.83%.   

Peter Ormandy, CEO of the Centre of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, also pointed out in a press release that in October, his office registered the lowest number of recipients of state aid in material need  “in the twenty years” of the existence of the office.

During a press conference, Tomas also pointed out minimal wage growth contributes to the unemployment level and projected that “in 2026, the minimal wage will surpass the €900 level and in the year 2027 it will climb towards [the] €1,000” level.