The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in the first quarter has improved its forecast for growth in the unemployment rate this year to 9.1% compared to 10% in the January forecast, according to the central bank’s inflation report posted on its website on Thursday evening.
“This year, unemployment will decrease and on average per year it will be 9.1%. On the one hand, the recovery in economic activity will help normalize the indicator, on the other hand, the decline will be hampered by a significant increase in business costs for wages,” the NBU said in the report.
According to the National Bank, in 2022 the unemployment rate will drop to 8.5% and will remain at this level until the end of 2023.
The regulator expects that in 2021, nominal wages will grow by 17.8%, in 2022 – by 9.7%, and real wages next year will rise by 8.6%, in 2022 – by 3.9%.