Warnings of redundancies are becoming increasingly frequent. However, unemployment remains largely stagnant, according to new figures from the Employment Agency.
The number of redundancies has risen steadily throughout the spring and reached a historic high of 8,300 employees in May. This is the highest figure since the beginning of 2023, which was influenced by a single event (the massive redundancy notice from the healthcare company Humana, which was later withdrawn).
Otherwise, one would have to go back to the levels seen during the outbreak of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. The figure can also be compared to approximately 5,400 in May last year.
However, despite this, unemployment has not increased significantly so far, according to the Employment Agency's statistics. Although around 20,000 more people are registered as unemployed with the country's employment agencies than in May last year, unemployment has remained largely stagnant at around 6.5 per cent, adjusted for seasonal patterns, since the turn of the year.
Ahead of the summer, youth unemployment has increased slightly. By the end of May, 37,000 people aged 18-24 were registered as unemployed, which is 3,000 more than at the same time last year.
