In the 4th quarter the number of job vacancies increased by four percent

The rate of job vacancies was 1.3% in the 4th quarter. The rate of job vacancies is the share of job vacancies in the total number of jobs (sum of occupied posts and vacancies).

The rate of job vacancies was the highest in other service activities (laundries, dry cleaning, beauty services, etc. – 2.8%) and the lowest in mining and quarrying (0.7%).

Compared to the 4th quarter of 2011, the rate of job vacancies increased most rapidly in other service activities (by 1.8 percentage points).

The increase in the number of job vacancies was the biggest in financial and insurance activities, where there were 1.5 times more vacancies, compared to the 4th quarter of 2011.

28% of the job vacancies were in the public sector and 72% in the private sector. The rate of job vacancies was 1.2% in the public sector and 1.3% in the private sector. The public sector includes companies owned by the state or local government.

Rate of job vacancies, 1st quarter 2005 – 4th quarter 2012

In the 3rd quarter of 2012, more than 77,500 employees were engaged and left their jobs in total (labour turnover). The increase in labour turnover was 1.2% compared to the same period of the previous year.

A job vacancy is a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied or becomes vacant when an employee leaves, and for which the employer is actively trying to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise, institution or organisation concerned.

The data are based on the job vacancies and labour turnover survey conducted by Statistics Estonia since 2005. In 2012, the sample included nearly 11,700 enterprises, institutions and organisations.