VIENNA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has caused unemployment in Austria to hit a historic high since 1946, according to a leading provider of labour-market related services in the country.
Since mid-March, when exit restrictions were enforced in the Alpine country to contain the coronavirus, the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) has seen a massive rise in unemployment to a record 504,345, which corresponds to an increase of 52.5 percent compared to the same month in the previous year, said an AMS report published Wednesday. Austria's current population is more than 8.99 million, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations Data.
The largest increase has been in the accommodation and catering sector, followed by the construction industry, transport and storage business, according to the report.
It estimated that the national unemployment rate at the end of March was 12.2 percent, an increase of 4.7 percentage points compared to March 2019.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Austria has increased to 10,482 as of Wednesday afternoon, with 146 deaths reported, stated local health authorities.
