Publications

Austria: the land of hidden unemployment

Official labour market statistics paint a confusing picture. In 2012, the rate of unemployment in Austria was 7.0 percent as calculated using the national definition (number of people registered as jobless), but just 4.3 percent if the ILO definition was applied – for the same country during the same period of time. But this phenomenon is not unique to Austria, it is a Europe-wide anomaly. Public perceptions have focused increasingly on the lower ILO figures in recent years.

• Author: Dénes Kucsera, Michael Christl
• Date: 26. September 2013