Nearly 55 percent of the unemployed in Bulgaria were at risk of poverty after social transfers in 2016, according to Eurostat data from a survey of unemployed persons between the ages of 15-64 in the EU.

According to NSI data in Bulgaria in 2016, there were 245,000 unemployed, which in practice means that more than 134,000 unemployed (55%) were at risk of poverty during this period. Total employment in Bulgaria this year was 2.9 million, while those outside the workforce were 1.4 million, according to NSI data. According to the latest data from the Employment Agency in Bulgaria in January 2018, the number of unemployed registered in the labor offices was 237 322.

The largest labor force demand, according to the analysis of the Employment Agency, is observed in the following economic activities: processing industry - 30%, government - 14%, trade - 13%, administrative and auxiliary activities - 7%, hotels and restaurants - 5 percent. The most sought-after professions in job positions in the Labor Offices in the country in January this year. were the following: child care staff and health care personnel; machine operators; store vendors; skilled workers in food production, clothing, woodwork and related products; workers in mining and manufacturing, construction and transport; personnel employed in the field of personal services, etc.

European statistics show that the largest share of people at risk of poverty is registered in the largest European economy - that of Germany - 70.8 percent. However, according to Eurostat, people at risk of poverty are those living in a household with an equal disposable income below the poverty risk threshold, which is set at 60 per cent of the average national equivalent disposable income. The high national disposable income threshold in Germany also explains the high percentage of unemployed at risk of poverty.

In Lithuania, the level of the unemployed at risk of poverty was 60 percent, in Latvia 56, 55 percent in Bulgaria, 54 percent in Estonia, the Czech Republic 52 percent, Romania 51 percent, and others. At the other end of the scale, less than 40 per cent of the unemployed were at risk of poverty in the following EU Member States: Cyprus and Finland - 37 per cent, France - 38 per cent and Denmark - 39 per cent.

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