VIENNA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in Austria saw a decline of 3.1 percent for June to take the total number of job seekers down to 374,973, the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) reported on Monday.
The overall unemployment rate presently lies at 5.4 percent, considered favourable in the EU where the average rate is currently 7.8 percent.
The fall in jobless figures has been observable as a trend for several months, and this time marks the largest drop seen so far in 2017.
A notable 15.7 percent decrease in unemployment was recorded amongst young people, while men saw a larger 6.5 percent drop in their jobless numbers than women on 3.2 percent.
Foreign nationals for whom a long-standing trend toward rising unemployment had been seen, also saw a decline of 3.7 percent.
Unemployment for people aged 50 and over remained a problem, however, their jobless numbers increased by 3.5 percent. The government has launched its "Aktion 2020" job initiative aimed specifically at assisting this segment of the workforce.
