The number of unemployed has sharply decreased: The Employment Service named the reasons.

The State Employment Service reported that the number of unemployed in Ukraine has significantly decreased. In particular, in 2024, there were 400 thousand registered unemployed individuals. Part of the decrease is related to people leaving the country, as refugees can register as unemployed but do not receive benefits. In addition, registration with the Employment Service has become mandatory for all military conscripts. This has led to a reduction in the number of registered unemployed men. Currently, women make up the majority of registered unemployed, as many men are defending Ukraine.

In my opinion, the main reason for the decrease in the number of unemployed is that a large number of men and women are defending Ukraine. This part of Ukrainians could potentially be our target audience... Another reason is that all military conscripts must provide military registration documents when registering with the Employment Service. This approach corresponds to the principle 'Work or fight!'. This has indeed reduced the number of registered unemployed men. If before the full-scale invasion, the ratio of men to women among the unemployed traditionally stood at about 50 to 50, now 80% are women and 20% are men,' said Yuliya Zhovtyak, the director of the State Employment Service.

Moreover, the desire of people to receive unemployment assistance encourages registration, but the payment terms have been shortened to three months during martial law. According to the National Bank, real wages of Ukrainians in the third quarter of 2024 increased by 7.2% compared to pre-war levels. The largest wage growth is observed in the IT sector. Salaries in the Ukrainian public sector also increased by 61% from January to November 2024, and the average salary in central government agencies is 62 thousand hryvnias. It is also worth noting that the salaries of Ukrainian officials exceed the national average by three times.

Over the past three years, the largest deputies' funds per elected official were held by Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Volyn regional councils, while the smallest funds were held by deputies of Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, and Bukovinian regional councils.