Sat, Nov 21 2009

Unemployment in EU worsens

Mon, Jun 15 2009 12:59 CET 1478 Views
Unemployment in EU worsens

JOBLESS: People line up to enter a government job centre in Madrid, April 2 2009.


The number of people employed in the countries using the euro fell by 0.8 per cent (1 220 000 people) in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities on June 15 2009.

In the same period, the number of people employed in the 27 EU member states also decreased by 0.8 per cent (1 916 000 people).
In the fourth quarter of 2008, employment declined by 0.4 per cent in the euro area and by 0.3 per cent in the EU27. These figures are seasonally adjusted, Eurostat said.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment dropped by 1.2 per cent in both zones in the first quarter of 2009, after remaining stable in the euro area and increasing by 0.2 per cent in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2009, 223.8 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 146.2 million were in the euro area. These figures are seasonally adjusted.
 
Spain was the worst hit, with employment decreasing 3.1 per cent on the quarter and 6.4 per cent on an annual basis.
 
Europe’s jobless rate is currently 9.2 per cent, the highest in close to 10 years. According to the Eurostat estimates on June 15, Bulgaria’s employment growth rate in Q1 2009 was minus 0.3 per cent, and that for the EU in the same period was minus 1.2 per cent.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
Half of Bulgarians believe worst of the crisis is yet to come

Bulgarians are above the EU average in worrying that they or their spouses will lose their jobs, while 18 per cent have no confidence about having a job in two years’ time – against an EU average of seven per cent.

EU youth unemployment, current account deficit worsen

Youth unemployment has increased in all EU member states except Bulgaria, where it decreased from 13.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to 13.5 per cent in Q1 2009.

Slippery slope

Bankruptcies are on the rise, but the worst is yet to come, employer associations warn.

Euro area unemployment highest since May 1999

Unemployment in euro area was 9.5 per cent in May 2009, new Eurostat figures say. Joblessness figures in all EU states are higher than a year ago.

April unemployment in EU was 8.6 per cent – Eurostat

In the 16-member euro area, seasonally-adjusted unemployment was 9.2 per cent in April 2009, according to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the EU, joblessness was highest in Spain, Latvia and Lithuania.

World Bank forecast 3% recession for EU's former planned economies

The economies of 10 European Union countries from the former Communist bloc would shrink by three per cent this year and stagnate around zero per cent next year, the World Bank said

Recruitment in recession

Just two years ago, one of the biggest problems businesses faced in Bulgaria was finding qualified personnel to staff all available jobs. As the economy wades deeper into the mire of recession, employers are afaced with a new set of challenges to their human resource management.

Unemployment edges up to 6.88% in March

Bulgaria's jobless rate increased to 6.88 per cent in March, up from 6.69 per cent a month earlier

February 2009 euro area unemployment up to 8.5 per cent

EU27 unemployment averages 7.9 per cent; Spain, Latvia and Lithuania have the highest jobless rates

More in this category

Bulgarian MPs resurrect proposal to raise spirits excise

Strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but MPs have put it back on the agenda.

Back to the future

Bulgaria’s Cabinet seeks to reverse recent changes in the telecommunications sector

At a crossroads, again

Kremikovtzi’s prospects for a recovery plan appear increasingly distant

Cash or card?

Bulgarians are getting the hang of debit and credit cards, MasterCard says

Bulgarian telecom Spectrum Net acquires local peer Orbitel

The two telecoms, both set up to challenge former fixed-line state monopoly BTC, will merge operations and expect to report 20 million euro in revenue and a gross profit of five million euro in 2010.