Unemployment drops fast in Lithuania

Job Market – Lithuania 

Over the past several years the unemployment level in Lithuania has seen a sharp decline that slowed down in 2015 but picked up the pace again in 2016. 

Job market regulations

In Lithuania, employment contracts are usually drawn up in writing in two copies. The employer is responsible for drawing up an appropriate document. Wages in Lithuania cannot be any lower than the official minimum wage level. The regular work week in Lithuania is 40 hours. Persons are not permitted to work any more than 48 hours a week, and employers can order employees to work overtime only as an exception. Employees are permitted to take 28 calendar days off from work every year. The State Labor Inspectorate in Lithuania oversees employment relations.

Unemployment shrinks at a faster rate

In 2015 the unemployment level in Lithuania was the highest in the Baltics at 9.1% but declined steeply to 7.9% in 2016 or by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. Last year there were 116,200 persons out of work in Lithuania, of which 17.8% were young people aged 15-24 years. The jobless rate among men in Lithuania was higher than among women - 9.1% of the country's male population were unemployed last year as opposed to 6.7% of women. Year-on-year, the number of male jobless persons decreased by one percentage point, while female unemployment fell 1.5 percentage points. Unemployment among young people (aged 15-24 years) shrank by 1.8 percentage points or by 2,600 persons in 2016 to 14.5%. The share of the long-term jobless also decreased – by 0.9 percentage points to 3 percent. The total number of the long-term jobless last year was 44,500, down by 13,000 people from 2015. 

Employment grows in commerce

The economists have noted that the Lithuania labor market is flexible and new jobs are being creating dynamically as shown also by the increase in overall employment. In 2016, there were 1,361,400 employed persons in Lithuania, up by 26,400 people from 2015. The employment level by sectors has not changed with majority of employees working in commerce and manufacturing. In the first three quarters of 2016, the largest number of employees worked in wholesale trade – 220,401 persons, followed by manufacturing with 199,642 employees, the education sector with 138,270 employees, and the transport sector with 111,225 employees. 

Wages keep growing

With the situation in the labor market improving, wages are growing as well. The average gross monthly wage in Lithuania in 2016 rose 7.9% or EUR 57, reaching EUR 771, while average net wage grew 8.3% or EUR 46 to EUR 600 a month. Real wages in Lithuania last year increased 7.3% from 2015. In the private sector, the average gross wage grew 9% or EUR 63 from 2015 to EUR 759, and the average monthly gross wage in the public sector was EUR 796 last year, rising 6.1% or EUR 45 from 2015.