The COVID-19 pandemic and current situation on the labor market in the NUTS 3 regions of the Slovak republic

Abstract

The outbreak of the worldwide pandemic COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 prompted almost all governments around the world to implement restrictive measures with social distancing. The dealing with the negative effects of a pandemic on the labor market is different in individual countries. The policy measures can contribute to faster recovery of the labor market, that has been most affected by the pandemic. The main purpose of the article is to analyze changes in labor market of NUTS 3 regions in the Slovak Republic during the pandemic. The aim of the study is to assess the effects of pandemic particular phases on the changes in the labour market in the Slovak republic and the European Union countries. The key method used to analyse these changes is the beta and sigma convergence method, which offers the opportunity to monitor in detail how the labour market situation has changed over time. To fulfil the main purpose of the article, we will work with statistical databases related to pandemic progress and with statistical data of the labour market. The results show that the pandemic has caused labor market changes in the form of rising unemployment, which we attribute mainly to the national lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic.