Estonia’s unemployment rate fell to 7.1% in the first quarter of 2026 from an eleven-year high of 8.6% in the corresponding period last year. The number of unemployed decreased by 12.0 thousand to 52.2 thousand. Of this total, 25.6 thousand were men, compared with 33.7 thousand a year earlier, while 26.7 thousand were women, compared with 30.5 thousand previously. Across age groups, the youth unemployment rate (aged 15–24) rose by 4.0 percentage points to 22.8%, while the rate for those aged 25–49 fell to 6.2% from 8.2%, and for those aged 50–74 declined to 5.2% from 6.9%. Meanwhile, the employment rate rose to 68.0% from 67.4% a year earlier, while the number of employed increased by 4.7 thousand to 686.3 thousand. The labour force participation rate eased to 73.2% from 73.7% a year earlier.