The number of unemployed people is falling: 1.500 people from Pljevlja have "disappeared" from the unemployment office in 10 years

At the end of June, the Pljevlja Labor Bureau registered 1.415 unemployed people, while in the same period last year, 1.605 citizens were waiting for work. An even more pronounced decline was recorded compared to 2020, when 2.340 unemployed people were registered.

Ten years ago, the Employment Service registered 2.922 unemployed people from Pljevlja, or 1.507 more than at the end of June this year. Among them, 512 were unemployed with a university degree, while today there are 96.

Statistics from the Employment Agency show that approximately one in seventeen residents in Pljevlja is unemployed. According to the results of the last census, the municipality has a population of 24.542.

In the first six months of 2026, Pljevlja had an average of 117 more employees than in the same period in 2025, which is an increase of about 1,7%. percent. In June 2025, there were 7.012 employees, and in June 2026, 7.104, which is 92 more, or about 1,3 percent. It is not clear where about half of the unemployed, who are no longer registered with the Pljevlja labor office, are.

At the end of June 2016, there were 5.822 employees in Pljevlja, which is 1.282 fewer than a decade later.

Although the number of unemployed is decreasing, their structure points to pronounced demographic and socio-economic problems. More than half of the currently unemployed are over 40 years old. There are 308 people in the 40-50 age group, while as many as 655 unemployed people are over 50 years old.

At the same time, there are significantly fewer young people. There are 88 registered persons under the age of 25, while 113 are between the ages of 25 and 30.

Women make up the overwhelming majority of the unemployed in Pljevlja - there are 965 of them registered.

When it comes to the educational structure, the most unemployed people have the fourth level of qualification - 504 of them. They are followed by people with the first level, of whom there are 417, and the third level of qualification, with 334 unemployed. There are also 48 people with the second level, and 16 with the fifth level of qualification.

Among unemployed university graduates, 38 people have a sixth level qualification, 47 have a level VII-1 qualification, and 11 have a level VII-2 qualification.

According to data from the Employment Agency, almost every third unemployed person in Pljevlja is a person with a disability. There are 405 of them registered, and most of them have the first level of qualification. Of the total number of unemployed persons with disabilities, 274 are women.

Unemployment continues to fall at the state level. On the last day of June, the Employment Agency of Montenegro registered 24.027 unemployed people, which is 724 fewer than in May, or a decrease of 2,93 percent. Compared to June last year, the number of unemployed people decreased by 3.525, or 12,79 percent.

For comparison, in the crisis year of 2020, there were 41.890 unemployed people registered with the Employment Service.

Women also make up the majority of the unemployed at the state level - 14.584, or 60,7 percent of the total number.

The Bureau's data also show marked regional differences. Podgorica, home to approximately a third of Montenegro's population, has 3.609 unemployed people, while Rožaje, with a population of just over 23.000, has 3.373. Berane, with a population of around 25.000, has 3.026 unemployed people.

The situation on the coast is much more favorable. Kotor, which has a population of nearly 22.000, has only 89 unemployed people registered with the Employment Service.

The most job vacancies during June were offered in Podgorica - 570, followed by Herceg Novi with 460 and Bar with 213. In Pljevlja, however, only 28 job vacancies were reported in the same period.

At the state level, the greatest demand was for workers with the first level of qualification, for which 601 vacancies were offered. There were 571 positions available for the fourth level, 339 for the level VII-1, and 326 for the third level.

Looking at the occupations, the greatest demand was for people without a profession or education with a primary school education - a total of 490. This was followed by waiters with 97 job offers, medical doctors with 44, and assistant caterers with 42.

By industry, the highest demand was recorded in accommodation and food services, with 443 vacancies, followed by wholesale and retail trade with 438, health and social protection with 235, and administrative and support service activities with 202 positions.

During June, 829 new unemployed people registered with the Employment Service, including 521 women, which is 27,34 percent more than in May.

At the end of June, 7.084 unemployed people, or 29,48 percent of the total number of registered persons, used the cash benefit. This is 770 beneficiaries, or 9,80 percent, less than in the same period last year.