TIRANA, March 15 – Albania’s unemployment rate slightly climbed to 17.7 percent at the end of 2015, down from 17.5 percent in the third quarter of the year and a record high of 18 percent in 2014, state statistical institute, INSTAT says in its latest labour force survey.
Data shows some 230,747 people aged between 15 to 64 were actively looking for a job in the final quarter of 2015. The survey shows unemployment rates are higher among people who have completed comprehensive secondary school, at 22.5 percent, and university graduates, at 20.8 percent, rather than people who completed vocational training education or compulsory school, at 14.6 percent, unveiling the huge mismatch between education and market needs.
Youth unemployment which includes people aged between 15 to 29 years old slightly dropped to 32.2 percent at the end of 2015 compared to a record high of 34 percent a year earlier.
INSTAT reports there were some 86,000 discouraged workers aged between 15 to 64 who have given up looking for a job after long-term unsuccessful employment attempts in the final quarter of 2015. The high unemployment rates, especially among youngsters and poor income, is one of the reasons that led over 65,000 Albanians to apply for asylum in EU countries, mainly to Germany last year.
