Brussels, 29/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The new EU Employment and Social Situation Quarterly review (summer 2011) released by the European Commission on Tuesday 27 June, shows that the EU labour market is recovering slowly but unevenly across the member states. Employment has improved since the second quarter of 2010, but significantly less than economic output, while job losses have been concentrated in the lower-middle end of the wage spectrum.
Even if the overall trend over the last year points to a slight recovery of the labour market, long-term social risks are apparent, especially for specific sub-groups, including young people, migrants and the low-skilled.
The Commission particularly underlines the fact that: (1) unemployment decreased to 9.4 %, but this benefited mostly member states which already had a lower than average unemployment rate. The labour market for youth has been improving for some time; however the overall impact of the crisis on young people remains significant. Unemployment still affects 20.3% of young people who are active in the labour market, and remains a major challenge in nearly all member states, together with an increased risk of long-term unemployment; (2) the impact of the crisis on the risk of poverty or exclusion is beginning to appear in some member states. Material deprivation and especially its components relative to “economic strains” reflect the social impact of the crisis; (3) labour costs rose in nominal terms, in line with productivity growth of 2.1 % in the first quarter of 2011. According to the Commission's spring economic forecasts, the EU economy is experiencing increased growth but forecasts remain oriented towards recovery without job creation and unemployment that will remain high in 2011 2012.
This edition of the Quarterly Review analyses the volunteering sector, linked with the “European Year of Volunteering” and takes a closer look at the situation on the labour markets in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Further information: http: //ec.europa.eu/social (G.B./transl.fl)