This is the percentage of unemployment in Kosovo, according to World Bank report

<x0). Unemployment has marked a historic decline in most Western Balkan countries, falling from 16.2 percent to 15.3 percent over the past year. The unemployment rate ranged from about 12 percent in Serbia and Albania to 29 percent in Kosovo”, the report says.

Furthermore, it notes that the region has also experienced a substantial reduction of long-term unemployment, from a peak of 1.5 million people in 2011 to 776,000 people in the second quarter of 2018.

However, the report argues that unemployment remains a significant challenge in the Western Balkans, where levels are two or three times higher than EU sister countries.

Women have continued to be under-represented in labour markets, but “they have been beneficial to more than half of this employment growth”, the report notes.

Meanwhile, the employment situation among young people has continued to improve. Yet, according to the report, on average, 50 percent of young people worked on temporary contracts, thus affecting 8 out of 10 new workers in Kosovo and Montenegro.

“Improvements in labour market performance are encouraging, but slow trend raises some concerns,” said Linda Van Gelder, World Bank Country Director for the Western Balkans, adding that in the Western Balkans, private sector still needs to be strengthened in order to create more jobs.