Statistics: Almost 12,000 job vacancies in third quarter

There were over 11,000 job vacancies in the third quarter of 2019 following a trend which has kept labor market vacancies above 10,000 since early 2017, newly released data from Statistics Estonia show.
In total there were 11,892 job vacancies throughout the country in July, August, and September.
The number of job vacancies increased by 4 percent compared to the third quarter of 2018 and by 6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2019.
The total number of vacant and occupied posts was 609,126, which is nearly 0.3 percent less than in the previous quarter.
The economic activities of manufacturing (18%), wholesale and retail trade (15%) and education (10%) have the largest shares in the total number of posts.
Manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and education are also the biggest employers in Estonia. In the third quarter of 2019, there were 2,050 job vacancies in wholesale and retail trade, 1,473 job vacancies in education and 1,407 job vacancies in manufacturing. These activities were followed by public administration and defence with 1,125 vacant posts.
The share of job vacancies in the total number of posts was 2 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2019, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than in the 3rd quarter of 2018.
The rate of job vacancies was highest in information and communication (3.1 percent) and in public administration and defence (2.9 percent), and lowest in mining and quarrying and real estate activities (both 0.2 percent).
Vacant posts in the public sector accounted for 31 percent of all job vacancies. The rate of job vacancies was highest in municipal institutions and enterprises (2.7 percent). In state institutions and enterprises, the rate was 2.2 percent, and in enterprises owned by Estonian and foreign private entities, 1.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
Most of the vacant posts were in Harju County (75%), including Tallinn (63%), followed by Tartu County (8 percent) and Pärnu County (3%). The rate of job vacancies was highest in Harju (2.6 percent) and Võru (1.8 percent) counties and lowest in Hiiu (0.2 percent) and Lääne-Viru (0.5 percent) counties.
Labour turnover amounted to nearly 118,000 in the third quarter of 2019, increasing by 18 percent on the same period of the previous year and by 2 percent on the previous quarter.
Both the number of employees hired and the number of employees who left their job remained highest in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and construction.

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Editor: Helen Wright