Uneven recovery: sectoral labour market mismatchin Austria after Covid-19

This paper investigates sectoral labour market matching in Austria using monthly administrative data from 2008 to 2024. We estimate sector-specific Beveridge curves and mismatch unemployment to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While mismatch unemployment returned to pre-pandemic levels in most sectors, it remained elevated in hospitality and the public sector, particularly in healthcare. These results underscore the importance of working conditions for labour shortages, and the need for targetedpolicy interventions to address sector-specific frictions and enhance the efficiency of labour reallocation.