Slight decline in the unemployment rate and rise in registered job vacancies in May

As at 31 May 2026, ADEM had 19,674 registered resident jobseekers, an increase of 1,205 compared with May 2025 (+6.5 per cent year-on-year). 

This year-on-year increase remains particularly marked among the most highly qualified jobseekers (+15.1 per cent). A year-on-year increase is observed across all age groups, although this increase is lower than in previous months, particularly among jobseekers under 30 (+2.9 per cent, compared with the 8.0 per cent year-on-year rise recorded last month). 

In terms of the occupations in demand, the largest increases were seen in secretarial and administrative support roles (ROME category M16), IT (ROME category M18) and banking (ROME category C12).  

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, calculated by STATEC, stands at 6.2 per cent, a slight decrease compared with the previous month. 

For the month of May, there was a 1.4 per cent year-on-year decrease in the number of new registrations of resident jobseekers (2,239 residents registered in May 2026, compared with 2,271 in May 2025). 

As at 31 May 2026, the number of resident jobseekers receiving full unemployment benefit stood at 9,842, representing a year-on-year decrease of 6.8% [1]. 

The number of resident jobseekers with ‘vocational redeployment’ status who are receiving the waiting allowance (IA) or the vocational waiting allowance (IPA) stands at 1,551, representing a slight increase of 1.3 per cent year-on-year [2].

The number of residents benefiting from an employment support scheme stands at 4,627, representing an increase of 3.8 per cent compared with May 2025.  

As regards non-residents, 759 people registered with ADEM during May 2026 (+5.6% year-on-year). The number of available non-resident jobseekers stood at 4,144 as at 31 May 2026 (+19.4% year-on-year).  

It should be noted that 2,433 of these non-resident jobseekers (58.7 per cent of the total) have the status of persons undergoing external career reorientation and are therefore, as such, eligible for financial assistance paid by ADEM under the same conditions as residents. For this category, the year-on-year increase is 10.5 per cent. 

The second category of non-residents registered with ADEM, whose total number as at 31 May stood at 1,711 (41.3 per cent of the total), comprises individuals who voluntarily register as jobseekers but are not entitled to any financial assistance. The year-on-year increase in the number of people in this category remains particularly marked; it stands at +34.8% between May 2025 and May 2026. 

1,018 non-resident jobseekers with external vocational redeployment status were receiving full unemployment benefit as at 31 May 2026, representing a year-on-year decrease of 9.7 per cent. In addition to those receiving full unemployment benefit, 1,827 non-resident jobseekers with ‘external vocational redeployment’ status were receiving a waiting allowance (IA) or a vocational waiting allowance (IPA) as at 31 May 2026, representing an increase of 8.0 per cent year-on-year [3].

In May 2026, employers reported 3,049 job vacancies to ADEM, up 7.6% compared with May 2025. This increase is largely due to significant seasonal recruitment by a company in the manufacturing sector. The number of job vacancies available at the end of the month stood at 6,928, representing a 3.8% year-on-year decrease. The sectors of industrial cleaning and maintenance (ROME category K22), design and engineering (ROME category F11), warehousing, goods handling and removals (ROME category N11), and paramedical care (category J15) recorded the sharpest rise compared with the previous year.  

[1]  See the methodological note on the completeness and consistency of data relating to recipients of full unemployment benefit, 

the transitional allowance and the occupational transitional allowance, at the end of this press release. 

[2] See aforementioned note.

[3] See aforementioned note.

Methodological note: Beneficiaries of full unemployment benefits and waiting/professional waiting allowances

The counting of recipients of full unemployment benefits, waiting allowance and professional waiting allowance was affected by major changes to ADEM’s IT systems implemented in November 2025. Consequently, developments in the number of benefit recipients are still subject to verification.

• An available resident jobseeker is a person registered with ADEM who resides on Luxembourg territory and who on the date of the statistical statement is neither in employment, nor assigned to an employment measure, nor on sickness or maternity leave.
• A resident jobseeker is a person registered with ADEM who resides in Luxembourg and who, on the date of the statistical report, is assigned to an employment measure.
• An available non-resident jobseeker is a person registered with ADEM who does not reside in Luxembourg and who, on the date of the statistical report, is neither in employment, nor assigned to an employment measure, nor on sickness or maternity leave.
• A jobseeker with reduced capacity for work is a person who benefits from an external reclassification decision pursuant to articles L.551-1 et seq. of the Labour Code.
• A recipient of full unemployment benefit is a person who is registered with ADEM and who is receiving benefit under article L. 521-1 et seq. of the Labour Code.
• A beneficiary of a waiting allowance or a waiting professional allowance is a person registered with ADEM and receiving compensation under application of article L. 551-5 of the Labour Code.
• The unemployment rate is the ratio between the number of available resident jobseekers and the resident active population.

More detailed interactive tables relating to the above data can be found in the ‘Key figures’ section of the ADEM website.

Raw data are also available on the Statistics Portal via the ‘Open Data’ portal.

The June 2026 data will be published on 20 July 2026.