The employment rate of the Austrian population aged between 15 and 64 is 73.0% for the reference date 31 October 2019. Labour participation of 15 to 64 year old women is 69.2%, of men it is 76.7%.
With focus on status in employment, 3 902 914 persons are employed, 512 988 persons are self-employed. Among the group of employed persons there are 57.0% white collar workers (including apprentices), 36.1% blue collar workers (including apprentices) and 6.8% other employees (holders of a non-standard contract, civil servants, compulsory and voluntary military service, compulsory community service, employees with unknown status in employment, frontier workers without Austrian social insurance, and people employed according to the DLSG).
The unemployment rate, i.e. the percentage of those currently economically active persons who are unemployed, is 6.3% (women 6.5%, men 6.1%).
According to the final results of the Register-based Census held on 31 October 2011, 69.6% of the population of the primary working age between 15 and 64 are employed (women 65.0%; men 74.3%).
The labour participation of men has decreased slowly in the last decades – in 1971, 85.4% of the male population aged between 15 and 64 were employed. Only for men aged 50 and over the share of employed people increased from 2001 to 2011 due to a higher pension age. But labour participation of men aged 50 and over is still below the rate of the year 1971.
Labour participation of women on the other hand has changed dramatically during the last decades. Due to extended education women – like men – start working later in their life now than in past decades. In 1971, 62.0% of the female population below the age of 25 were employed – only 50.2% in 2011. The change in labour participation is significant especially for women in the middle of their life. Until 1991, labour participation of women had decreased from the age of 20 years on. In 2011, labour participation of women has been increasing until the age of 45 years, although it often concerns part-time work. 44.9% of all employed women (those temporarily not at work excluded) work part-time, but only 9.8% of men.
In 2011, 1 878 029 women and 2 141 379 men are employed. 43.1% (women 53.3%; men 34.1%) are employees (white-collar workers). Civil servants (including employees under special contract) account for 12.4% of the women and 10.4% of the men. 22.0% of the employed women and 37.1% of the employed men are blue-collar workers. Also more men (3.9%) than women (2.4%) are apprentices. 448 213 persons are self-employed – 26.7% of them are employers (women 19.6%; men 31.2%).
Women and men work in very different industries. 34.2% of all employed men, but only 11.6% of all employed women work in commerce and industry. On the other hand, 61.6% of all employed men and 83.6% of all employed women work in the tertiary sector, which includes all services. Most women are employed in "wholesale and retail trade" (18.3%) and "human health and social work activities" (12.1%). Men especially work in "manufacturing" (20.2%), "wholesale and retail trade" (13.1%) and "construction" (11.9%).
According to the Register-based Census, 252 147 persons are unemployed. The unemployment rate is 5.9% (women 6.2%; men 5.6%).
The unemployment rate declines with the completed level of the educational attainment. The unemployment rate of women (11.9%) and men (12.4%) with primary school is especially high, while the unemployment rate of persons with tertiary education is the lowest (women 2.8%; men 2.6%). But there are significant differences between the fields of education on all levels.
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