What is happening with the employment in the Bulgarian regions? We are often looking for an answer to this question, but we do not always look at the big picture. Here we will do exactly that, with only one graph. It presents the minimum and the maximum in the employment rate of the age group 15-64 years by districts for the period 2003-2018. The chart actually shows the best and worst performance in employment for each area over the past 16 years, with the employment rate in the last 2018 as well - the areas are ranked in terms of employment over the past year, writes Money.bg

18 regions in the country achieve a record (or very close to record) employment for the past 16 years in 2018. Each of the top nine employment areas in 2018 is at its record level. The regions that have the highest employment and break the 75% limit are Sofia (capital), Sofia area, Blagoevgrad, Stara Zagora and Plovdiv;

10 districts in the country are under their record of employment for the last 16 years in 2018. Four of them - Kardzhali, Razgrad, Vratsa and Montana, have been at the bottom of employment in the last year. In all, 10 of the 14 areas in the second half of employment in 2018 are northern regions;

The highest employment rate achieved in Bulgaria in the past 16 years is 75.6% in Sofia (capital) in 2018. The lowest employment rate in this period was 42.2% in Vidin in 2004. Although for a long period - for 16 years, the difference between the two records is shocking - 33.4 percentage points;

Just in 2018 the difference between peak and bottom - in the case of Sofia (capital) and Montana - is 23.4 percentage points. The employment rate (15-64 years) remains below the 60% limit in the north-western regions of Vidin, Montana and Vratsa, as well as in Razgrad and Kardzhali districts;

Although traditionally Varna has higher employment than Burgas, in those 16 years Burgas managed to double ahead of Varna - first in 2012-2013 years and now in 2018. The reason is that Burgas in 2018 achieves a record employment - after 8 consecutive years of constant growth in employment, while in Varna there are good and bad years and now the employment is just a little below the record levels of 2015;

Interestingly, in some of the good examples of recent years, such as the Smolyan and Plovdiv districts that have both high employment and solid growth in recent years, growth is practically halted in 2018. Record-breaking employment in some areas is clearly reaching levels , which will be very difficult to surpass.

All that has been said so far clearly shows the great differences between the districts in the country. Even if everyone reaches their record levels, the differences would again be significant. The bad news is that those on the bottom have been experiencing difficulties in recent years as well, failing to reach their maximum potential. The best ones are rather at their record levels, but some of them are already reaching their potential, that is, they can not activate additional workforce. Paradoxically, but in the record year of employment in the country, the problems of the labor market in Bulgaria remain clearly visible.

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