Number of job vacancies down in country

The number of registered job vacancies for salaried employees in Lithuania stood at 19,100 in the first quarter of this year, down by 1,000 vacancies from late March last year, the country's statistical service, Statistics Lithuania, said on Friday.

Over a quarter, the number of job vacancies rose by 19.3 percent, or 3,100, from the end of 2018, with the largest increases recorded in the construction and trade sectors, 700 each, and in the industrial sector (500).

The largest number of vacancies was reported by industrial companies, standing at 4,300 and accounting for 22.4 percent of the total number of job vacancies, followed by the trade sector (2,700; 14.3 percent), the public administration, defense and social insurance sector (2,700; 13.9 percent).

In late March, the percentage of job vacancies stood at 1.5 percent in Lithuania, up 0.2 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2018, but down 0.1 percent from the same period last year.