🇱🇻Latvia’s Labour Market 2025: Stability on the Surface, Adjustment Underneath?
In 2025, Latvia’s employment rate reached 64.5%, according to data from the Centrālā statistikas pārvalde. A total of 883.1 thousand residents aged 15–74 were employed, up 0.6 percentage points year-on-year. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9%.
At first glance, the labour market appears stable. Employment increased modestly, unemployment did not rise, and the number of economically inactive persons declined.
However, several internal indicators moved in parallel.
The number of people holding a secondary job increased to 45.5 thousand, or 5.2% of all employed, up from 5.0% a year earlier. Women were more likely than men to have additional employment. Most secondary jobs involved 1–10 hours per week.
Youth unemployment rose to 14.8%, up 1.2 percentage points year-on-year, while long-term unemployment also edged higher over the full year.
Data Card — Latvia 2025
Employment rate: 64.5% (+0.6 pp)
Employed persons: 883.1 thousand
Unemployment rate: 6.9% (unchanged)
Youth unemployment: 14.8% (+1.2 pp)
Secondary employment: 45.5 thousand (5.2%)
Long-term unemployed (12+ months): 22.1 thousand (33.9% of all unemployed)
The Open Question
If headline indicators point to stability, but more people are supplementing income through additional jobs, can the labour market be described as fully stable — or is it gradually adjusting to income pressures?
The data for 2025 do not provide a definitive answer.
But they suggest that labour market equilibrium may increasingly depend not only on employment levels, but also on income structure and job intensity.BSM © 2026
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