Moldova's labor force in the third quarter of this year amounted to more than 910 thousand people, down by 3.9% compared to the same period last year, the results of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) show, IPN reports.

The share of women (50.4%) in the labor force was insignificantly higher compared to that of men (49.6%), and the share of economically active persons was higher in rural than in urban areas (51.5% and 48.5%, respectively).

The employment rate of the population aged 15 and over was 43.9%, down 0.2 percentage points from the level recorded in the same period of the previous year. 19.9% worked in agriculture and 80.1% in non-agricultural activities. The services sector accounted for 58.5% of all persons employed. Their share in industry was 13.5%, including manufacturing - 11.5%, and in construction - 8.1%.

The share of informally employed persons amounted to 21.8% of all employed persons. In the non-agricultural sector informal employment amounted to 11.1%. The highest share of informally employed persons in non-agricultural activities is recorded in construction - 64.2% of all persons employed in construction.

According to the International Labor Office, the number of unemployed was about 33.2 thousand people, down by 15.3% compared to the third quarter of 2023, when 39.2 thousand people were registered. Unemployment affected in a higher proportion women, who accounted for 56.8% of the total unemployed, and urban - 51.8%.