More than 16,000 people began work in March, the Employment Agency said on April 15. A total of 15,163 unemployed people found jobs, while a further 989 employed, students and pensioners received assistance in changing or developing their careers. The total number of people who found jobs during the month reached 16,152.
The registered unemployment rate in March stood at 5.3%, marking a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared with February and a year-on-year decline of 0.2 percentage points. At the end of the month, the number of registered unemployed was 151,123, down 3.3% compared with a year earlier.
In March, more than 5,990 people were encouraged to take their first steps towards entering the labour market through the targeted efforts of labour offices, as well as with the support of Roma and youth mediators, the Employment Agency said.
A total of 1,211 people from vulnerable groups started work under subsidized job programmes. These include people with disabilities, young people without work experience, people aged over 55 and the long-term unemployed. Of these, 1,135 were enrolled in projects under the Human Resources Development Programme 2021-2027, co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus.
In March, the Employment Agency issued more than 9,400 training vouchers for unemployed and employed individuals. This instrument supports reskilling and upskilling in the context of accelerated digitalization and technological change.
From the business side, a total of 15,103 vacancies were registered on the primary labour market in March. The largest share was in accommodation and food service activities, manufacturing, trade and vehicle repair, public administration, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, administrative and support service activities, education, transport, storage and postal services.
Demand was highest for personal services workers, sales assistants, motor vehicle drivers, care workers, refuse collection workers, machine operators, as well as workers in industry, construction, transport and agriculture.
In February 2026, registered unemployment in Bulgaria stood at 5.4%, the Employment Agency said.