At the end of May, there were 224,716 unemployed jobseekers in Wallonia, a fall of 1.5% compared with the end of April, Forem reported on Wednesday. On an annual basis, however, the rise was 7.4%.
Just under half (49.2%) of these jobseekers receive unemployment benefits. The number of jobseekers claiming benefits actually fell, by 1.8% compared with the end of April and by 5.2% compared with May 2023.
There were 26,830 young people on work placements in May, representing almost 12% of jobseekers. Their numbers were down by 10.1% on April and by 23.3% over one year.
The year-on-year increase in jobseekers was mainly due to people registering voluntarily with Forem in order to benefit from the services of the Walloon employment office. Their numbers rose by 88.2% in one year and by 2.3% compared with last April.
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Forem is trying to bring back into its fold people who are looking for work but who are not receiving benefits, and who are therefore not obliged to register with its services. These people now account for more than a quarter (27.4%) of Wallonia's jobseekers.
In total, the number of jobseekers rose by 7.4% compared with May 2023. At the end of May, the jobseeker rate stood at 13.9% of the Walloon working population.
