In 2011 the economically active population aged 15 - 64 was 3 279.1 thousand and represented 66.0% of population in the same age group. Compared to 2010 the activity rate (15 - 64 years) went down by 0.5 percentage points.
The total number of employed persons stood at 2 949.6 thousand, accounting for 45.6% of population aged 15 and over.
Employed persons aged 15 - 64 were 2 908.3 thousand, by 3.4% less than in 2010.
The employment rate (15 - 64 years) was 58.5% (60.9% for men and 56.2% for women), by 1.2 percentage points lower as compared to 2010.
The employment rate for the age group 20 - 64 years (an indicator laid down in the “Europe 2020” Strategy of the European Commission) decreased by 1.5 percentage points compared to 2010 and reached 63.9% (66.6% for men and 61.2% for women).
The employment rate for people aged 55 - 64 reached 43.9%, which was by 0.4 percentage points higher than in 2010, and it was wholly due to an increase of female employment.
372.3 thousand persons were unemployed, of whom 215.7 were men and 156.6 were women.
As compared to 2010 the unemployment rate rose by 1.0 percentage point to 11.2%. The unemployment rate went up by 1.4 percentage points for men and by 0.5 percentage points for women, achieving 12.3 and 10.0% respectively.
The youth unemployment rate (15 - 24 years) was 26.6%.
The number of long-term unemployed persons (unemployed for one year and over) was 209.4 thousand, representing 56.2% of all unemployed.
The long-term unemployment rate was 6.3% (7.0% for men and 5.5% for women).
The economically inactive persons aged 15 - 64 were 1 690.5 thousand, of whom 753.2 thousand men and 937.3 women. The inactivity rate was 34.0% (30.4% for men and 37.6% for women).
The number of discouraged persons aged 15 - 64 was 235.2 thousand.
Source: National Statistical Institute