Austria’s labour market is showing its first faint signs of relief. Unemployment is still higher than a year ago, but the rise has slowed, and construction, tourism, temporary agency work and Vienna are now recording fewer jobseekers.
Labour Minister Korinna Schumann called the trend encouraging, though she warned it is too soon to speak of a true recovery. “The rise in unemployment is flattening out,” she said, adding that targeted labour market policy remains essential, especially for women, older workers and the long-term unemployed.
Including people in Public Employment Service training programmes, unemployment fell by 1.3 percent in construction, 1.9 percent in tourism and 0.9 percent in temporary agency work. Vienna saw a 2.8 percent decline. Employment also edged up by an estimated 0.1 percent in September and October, reported by Heute.
Yet the broader picture remains difficult. At the end of October, 314,499 people were registered unemployed, 3,990 more than a year earlier. With training participants included, the total reached 389,941, up 0.5 percent. The registered unemployment rate stood at 7.3 percent.
The improvement is uneven. Women’s unemployment rose 4.3 percent, while men’s fell 1.3 percent. Youth unemployment barely changed. Unemployment among foreign nationals declined 1.9 percent, while joblessness among Austrian citizens rose 3.5 percent.
Long-term unemployment is the deepest concern. The number of people out of work for at least a year climbed to 104,441, up 10.5 percent. They now represent about one third of all registered jobseekers.
Apprenticeships also reveal a widening gap. School leavers seeking places rose 12.6 percent, while open apprenticeship positions fell, leaving 4,347 vacancies unfilled. Employer demand remains weak: available vacancies dropped 3.4 percent, and new vacancies fell 6.2 percent.
In tourism, the government will cut the seasonal-worker quota to 6,250 for 2027 and 2028, a reduction of nearly 22 percent. Domestic jobseekers will have priority, while businesses retain flexibility for seasonal peaks.
Austria’s economy offers cautious hope. After two years of recession, it grew 0.7 percent in 2025, and leading institutes expect growth of around 0.8 to 0.9 percent in 2026.
For now, the labour market remains under strain. But after months of worsening figures, Austria may finally be seeing light at the end of a long tunnel.
