Unemployment rate at 19 percent - labor force survey

Unemployment rate at 19 percent - labor force survey

Over the same period of time, employment rate has been 49.8 percent for men and 35.9 percent for women, according to the data based on a survey using the sample of 14,000 households, with 28,240 persons taking part.

Employment rate is highest in Sumadija and Western Serbia (45 pct) and lowest in South and Eastern Serbia (40.7 pct).

Informal employment rate, meanwhile, reached 20.3 percent in the first quarter - with agriculture accounting for two thirds of that figure.

Informal sector employment - with the exception of agriculture - is lower compared to the first and fourth quarters of 2015, said the Statistical Office.

According to the report, volume of labour force aged 15 and over in the first quarter of 2016 continues the increasing trend started in 2011, despite negative demographic trends.