OREANDA-NEWS. December 10, 2014. Job vacancies at Estonian enterprises, institutions and organizations rose by 12.7 percent in the third quarter, leaving 8,600 positions unfilled in the country, said a report by Statistics Estonia.

That is a 1.6 percent job vacancy rating, which is roughly the same rate as the third quarter of 2013; vacancies are up 0.3 percent over that period.

For the second consecutive year, the increase in the number of job vacancies was the highest in construction, which grew in the third quarter by 52 percent. Construction work has been regulated more thoroughly starting this past summer, with more workers having to sign contracts instead of working “off-book”.

Two-thirds of the job vacancies are located in Harju Country, which includes Tallinn. The job vacancy rate was also the highest in Harju Country (1.9 percent). It was the lowest in Hiiu County (0.6 percent)

Thirty percent of job vacancies were in the public sector, and 70 percent in the private sector. The largest share was in Estonian-owned enterprises. In the public sector, the job vacancy rate was 1.8 percent. It was 1.5 percent in the private sector.