Latvia

Over the past 12 months we have observed a decrease in salaries for both white- and blue-collar roles in the logistics and production sectors. In comparison with the previous quarter, salaries in production have decreased by 6.6%, while salaries in transportation and storage decreased by 2.4%. In comparison to Q2 2019, a decrease of 10% has been recorded in both the production and logistics sectors.

At the same time, it should be noted that the support measures introduced so far have generally mitigated the negative effects of the pandemic on the labour market. By the 18th of May this year, more than 45,000 workers and the self-employed had received a downtime allowance, which has partly ensured the preservation of jobs and income during the emergency period.

Data from the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in June 2020 the unemployment rate reached 9.8%, which is 0.2 pp more than in May. The unemployment rate registered by the State Employment Agency (SEA) was reported as 8.6%, and, when compared to May, it has also risen by 0.2 pp. The unemployment rate increase can also be observed when comparing the data to June 2019 which reflects increases of 3.5 pp in the actual unemployment rate and 2.6 pp in the registered unemployment rate.

Meanwhile, both the registered unemployment rates and the dynamics of registered vacancies in general show that the situation in the labour market is gradually stabilizing. According to the State Employment Agency, the growth in the number of registered jobseekers in May has been almost three times slower than in April. However, from the beginning of May this year, the number of registered vacancies has stabilized and is resuming growth. Between the 5th and 21st of May, the number of vacancies increased by more than 2,000.

Riga, as a metropolitan area in a small country, has a very high concentration of production (70% of country total) and logistics (60% of country total). In the Western coastal city of Ventspils, there has been a shortage of logistics specialists but, due to the recent redundancies, the situation has changed. Blue-collar workers and sales engineers are the most sought after by clients in the logistics and production sectors in Latvia.

Payments in Latvia