Highly qualified and over 45s add to increase in job seekers

The number of available resident jobseekers registered with national employment agency Adem stood at 18,065 on 31 August 2025, an increase of 330 people, equivalent to 1.9%, compared to August 2024.

But the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, calculated by state statistics office Statec, remained stable at 5.9% in data published on Monday.

The latest figures from Adem indicate that the increase in jobseekers concerns people “over the age of 45 and the most highly qualified”, in other words higher education graduates, the agency said.

Job seekers were after work in accounting, secretarial and administrative work, IT, and road transport driving.

But the number of job vacancies at the end of August was down 9.8% compared to August 2024, with the decline particularly affected the accounting, construction, business organisation and economic studies sectors.

A total of 2,460 residents newly registered with Adem, representing an increase of just 0.2% compared to August 2024. The number of resident jobseekers receiving full unemployment benefit fell by 4.5% over the year.

According to EU statistics agency Eurostat, which uses a slightly different methodology, the Grand Duchy’s unemployment stood at 6.6% in July. That was above the average for both the eurozone (6.2%) and the EU (5.9%).