Status of Youth in the Labour Market – Useful Documents

According to the latest data from the Labour Force Survey for 2016 and 2017 average (RSO), labour market indicators for the population 15-24 years of age are showing continuous positive trends of increasing employment and decreasing unemployment. The employment rate of 20.9% represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points (pp) compared to the 2016. The unemployment rate in 2017 is 31.9% and it is lower by 3.0 pp compared to 2016 average.

Youth 15-24	Year 2016 average	Year 2017 average	Changes in year 2017/2016
Activity Rate	30,3%	30,6	0,3 pp
Employment Rate	19,7%	20,9	1,2 pp
Unemployment Rate	34,9%	31,9	-3,0 pp
Inactivity Rate	69,7%	69,4	-0,3 pp
NEETs (15-24)	17,7%	17,2%	-0,5 pp

Reducing the unemployment rate in this population compared to the last years is not only the result of a reduction in the number of unemployed people, but also the negative demographic trend and the smaller volume of the population aged 15-24 years of age. In comparison with the general population (15+), youth are still at a disadvantaged position, with an employment rate more than twice below the general population and an unemployment rate more than twice above the overall population. Young people make 5.5% of the total number of employees, while in the structure of the unemployed they participate with 16.5% (LFS, RSO).

A particularly vulnerable group in the labour market are youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). Their share in the total number of youth in 2017 is 17.2%, and is 0.5 pp lower compared to the 2016. Within the youth population, the position of women in the labour market is considerably less favourable than their male peers, according to all indicators, and the difference is most pronounced with the activity rate of 24.1% for young women and it is 12.7 pp lower than the activity rate of young men (36.8%). The employment rate of 15.3% for young woman is 10.8 pp lower than the employment rate of young man (26.1%).

Young people in Serbia are still in a significantly less favourable situation than their peers in the EU. According to Eurostat data for 2017, the youth activity rate for 15-24 in the EU28 was 41.7%, the employment rate was 34.7% and the unemployment rate was 16.8%. NEET rate was 10.9%. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind the great differences between EU Member States, for example Greece have the unemployment rate of 43.6% and Spain 38.6%, while the employment rate for youth in Greece is 14.1%, in Italy it is 17.1% and in Spain 20.5%.