The employment rate and average net salary in Transylvania rose in 2018. There were 1,985,300 employed persons in Transylvania in December, up 3.4% or 65,600, while the net salary peaked at 2,701 RON ( EUR 568) in December, up 2.1% from the previous month and 13.6% compared to 2017, according to the latest data released by ErdélyStat.
Employed persons in Romania averaged 5,672,900 from 1980 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 8,496,000 in June of 1990 and a record low of 4,095,200 in January of 2011. Last year, the employment rate was on the rise, with 4,888,000 registered in January, reaching 4,940,400 people in November and dropping to 4,930,400 at the end of December 2018.
Transylvania has registered a growth of 3.4% in the past year, with an additional 65,600 people gaining employment in the region, pushing the total to 1,985,300 in December, while the average for the year was 1,981,700. The highest employment rate growth was registered in Kolozs/Cluj and Maros/Mureș counties (5.2%), but in Szeklerland (Hargita/Harghita and Kovászna/Covasna counties), along with Partium (Bihar/Bihor, Szatmár/Satu Mare and Szilágy/Sălaj counties), the rise in employment matched the average of 2–4%. The total number of employed people was 121,400 in Szeklerland, 311,800 in Partium, and 392,200 in Central Transylvania.
The number of unemployed persons is slowly, but steadily dropping year-over-year. The total number unemployed in Romania was 288,900 in December 2018, down 17.7% compared to the same period a year previously. The same downward trend is noticeable in Transylvania, too, with only 73,500 registered unemployed people, 18.4% lower than a year earlier.
In December 2018 the average net salary was RON 2,957 (EUR 623) in Romania. That compares to the average salary employed persons in Transylvania netted RON 2,701 (EUR 569). The reason for the discrepancy is the RON 3,882 (EUR 818) average wage registered in the capital of Romania, which skews the country’s total net average wage data upwards.
There has been a noticeable rise in wages in Transylvania, the latest data shows: the average net salary a Transylvanian employed person received was RON 2,504 (EUR 527), up 14.1% or RON 300 (EUR 63) compared to 2017. The biggest drivers of growth were agriculture and sylviculture, with salaries rising 18.8% compared to 2017. In the services sector the growth was 15.7%, while in industry and construction salaries only grew by 11.7% in 2018.
