The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) has published the results of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) in the fourth quarter of 2018 (Q4 2018).

The survey has been extended to 600 enumeration areas throughout the country where 3 488 households were selected according to the random method from the Population and Housing Census 2011. Households selected for the survey except that they had one survey they also had three re-surveys by reference period.

This publication contains detailed information on employment and unemployment by age, gender, employment status, economic activity, occupation and other similar issues related to the labor market.

According to the results of this publication, two-thirds of the population in Kosovo is a working age population. The working age population includes the age 15-64 years old.

Within the working age population, the rate of participation in the workforce is 42.0%.

The employment rate in the Labor Force Survey in the fourth quarter of 2018 is 28.8%.

Higher employment is to males (45.2%), while female employment is 12.7%. Females are mainly employed in education, trade and healthcare sectors by 52.9% of them, while males are mostly employed in trade, construction and manufacturing sectors by 44.1%.

Economic sectors that continue to employ continue to be: trade with 17.0%; construction with 12.1%; manufacturing with 11.1%; as well as education with 10.6%. Meanwhile, other sectors participate with the lowest percentage in employment.

Regarding contracted employees, it turns out that 33.8% of employed persons have permanent contracts in their main job, while 66.2% have a temporary contract.

According to the results of the LFS, in Q4 2018 the unemployment rate is 31.4%.

The most pronounced unemployment is in females by 38.0%, compared with males, 29.2%. The most pronounced unemployment rate is in the age group 15-24 with 57.3%.

According to the results of the LFS, in Q4 2018 inactive workforce is quite high at 58.0%, with a particular focus on females by 79.5% compared to males by 36.1%.

For the implementation of LFS Q4 2018, the methodology and standards applied by KAS are harmonized with recommendations of Eurostat.