Minister: situation in labor market is better than in many European countries

As Lithuania's Employment Service reports the highest unemployment level this year, the country's Social Security and Labor Minister Linas Kukuraitis says the number of working people is growing following the lockdown, adding that the situation in the country's labor market is much better than in many European countries.

The official unemployment rate in Lithuania stood at 13.3 percent on August 17, which is the highest level this year.

"More people are now being hired than dismissed at the moment, so these are positive tendencies. Besides, wages continue to grow, despite the lockdown. (…) The situation in the labor market is fairly good and is much better than in the majority of Europe and is significantly better than during the crisis we had a decade ago," Kukuraitis told the national radio LRT.

According to the minister, unemployment figures are growing not at the expense of working people, but because self-employed people are now being registered as unemployed, as well as unemployed people who were not registered with the Employment Service before.