The number of job vacancies increased by 8 percent on year and 9 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2018.

The number of job posts, both vacant and occupied, totaled 608,150 in the first quarter of 2019, having increased by nearly 2 percent compared to the previous quarter. The economic activities of manufacturing (18 percent), wholesale and retail trade (15 percent) and education (10 percent) continued to command the largest shares in the total number of job posts. Manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade are the biggest employers in Estonia — in the first quarter of 2019, there were nearly 1,500 and 1,800 job vacancies, respectively, in these activities. These were followed by public administration and defense, with 1,100 vacant posts.

The rate of job vacancies, i.e. the share of job vacancies in the total number of posts, was 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2019, which is 0.1 percentage point higher than in the first quarter of 2018. In the first quarter of the year, the rate of job vacancies was highest in information and communication (3.7 percent) and financial and insurance activities (3 percent) and lowest in agriculture (0.8 percent) and mining and quarrying (0.2 percent).

In the first quarter, 27 percent of vacant posts were in the public sector. The rate of job vacancies was highest in enterprises owned by foreign private entities (2.6 percent) and in state institutions and enterprises (2.1 percent). The rate of job vacancies was 2 percent in municipal institutions and enterprises and 1.6 percent in enterprises owned by private Estonian entities.

The majority of vacant posts were available in Harju County (75 percent), including Tallinn (64 percent), followed by Tartu County (8 percent), Pärnu County (4 percent) and Ida-Viru County (3 percent). The rate of job vacancies was highest in Harju County (2.4 percent) and Jõgeva County (2.4 percent), and lowest in Hiiu County (0.2 percent) and Põlva County (0.4 percent).

The movement of labor is characterized by labor turnover, which amounted to nearly 90,000 in the first quarter of 2019, down 10 percent compared to the previous quarter but remaining steady on year. In the first quarter of 2019, both the number of employees hired and the number of employees who left their jobs remained highest in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and construction. 12 percent of all employees to leave their job were employees who left on their employer's initiative.

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