Romania's jobless rate eases to 6.3% in September, youth rate at 30.8%

Headline figures

Romania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 6.3% in September 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from 6.4% in August, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The estimated number of unemployed people aged 15 to 74 fell by 6,300 in a month, from 523,400 to 517,100. Set against September 2025, the picture is weaker: 490,900 people were out of work then, and the current count is more than 26,000 higher. The rate was 6% a year earlier, so the monthly easing has not reversed the annual increase.

"The unemployment rate for September 2026 was, seasonally adjusted, 6.3%, down 0.1 percentage points from August 2026. The female rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the male rate."

The path through 2026

The rate stayed between 6.3% and 6.8% through the first nine months of 2026. It was 6.3% in January and February, rose to 6.5% in March and 6.8% in April, eased to 6.7% in May and reached 6.8% again in June. It then dropped to 6.4% in both July and August before the September reading.

2025-09

6 %

2026-01

6.3 %

2026-02

6.3 %

2026-03

6.5 %

2026-04

6.8 %

2026-05

6.7 %

2026-06

6.8 %

2026-07

6.4 %

2026-08

6.4 %

2026-09

6.3 %

Data from the article text

Women and men

The female unemployment rate was 6.5% in September, 0.3 percentage points above the male rate of 6.2%. The female rate was unchanged from August, after 6.7% in July, while the male rate slipped from 6.3% in August. Compared with September 2025, when women stood at 5.8% and men at 6.1%, the gap has widened because the female rate has risen more sharply.

Young people

Unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds was 30.8% in April to June 2026, against 28.8% in the first quarter and 25.9% in September 2025. Within the April to June period, the rate was 28.5% for young men and 34.3% for young women. INS flagged this as the most worrying part of the labour market, noting that almost one in three young people in the age group were without a job. The youth rate sits well above the national rate of 6.3%.

September 202525.9%

January-March 202628.8%

April-June 202630.8%

September 2025

25.9 %

January-March 2026

28.8 %

April-June 2026

30.8 %

Data from the article text

Adults, local services and employer caution

Adults aged 25 to 74 recorded an unemployment rate of 5.1% in September, down from 5.2% in August and up from 4.7% in September 2025. Local data from Olt county points to the same hiring slowdown. The public employment agency in Olt (AJOFM Olt) placed 1,929 people in jobs in the first nine months of 2026, under a third of its 6,165-person target for the year. Its director, Constantin Câtu, said the agency had set an overly ambitious plan and had not fully judged how difficult 2026 would be.

“It's a harder period, a harder period everywhere, across Europe. Firms are not putting out jobs in this period.”

Câtu linked the shortfall to the economic situation and to higher taxes, and said employers are hesitant to hire. He said older jobseekers and young people are the hardest to place, because firms sometimes pick younger candidates even when an older applicant has experience. He added that the agency's work had not changed and that finding solutions for 1,929 people still counts for something.

Outlook

Three months remain in 2026 for the Olt agency to work toward its annual target, and the gap is unlikely to be closed by year-end. Nationally, the 517,100 unemployed people counted in September remain above the 490,900 recorded a year earlier.