Brussels, 10/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - The recovery in the labour market enjoyed by the EU in the first half of 2011 did not continue for the rest of the year, with economic growth too weak in the third quarter to support job creation, it was revealed in the latest quarterly review of employment and the social situation in the EU, published by the European Commission on Tuesday 10 January.
With average growth of 0.3% in the EU in the third quarter of last year, employment fell by 0.1% taking unemployment to “a historically high level cancelling out all of the previous improvements”. The current level of 9.8% highlights the steep increase in unemployment in 2008 and 2009 and has a particularly strong influence on the long-term unemployment rate which rose to 4% in mid-2011. This means that 43 % of the unemployed persons had been out of work for more than a year, and leads, in turn, to an increase in poverty in the EU, as young adults and single parents are the groups most affected. Youth unemployment in the EU again rose sharply, to a new high of 5.6 million (22.3%) in November of last year.
The number of jobless households also rose. In the 27 EU member states, the percentage of children and working age adults living in jobless households reached 9.9%, whereas, in 2008, the level was only 8.9%. 2011 is expected to see this upward trend continue, as the Commission's quarterly review makes clear: “The share of households experiencing financial difficulties across the EU has been steadily increasing since the beginning of 2011.”
Though European labour markets are highly diversified, underlying trends are relatively similar, as a result of the strong influence of the international environment and also the austerity measures being applied as part of recovery plans. However, the impact of these measures still cannot easily be quantified, as they vary widely across member states. If they are not carefully designed, it is the most vulnerable who will bear the brunt of austerity, the Commission warns, drawing the conclusions of a recent analysis evaluating the likely distributional impacts of the austerity packages in six EU countries. (JK/transl.rt)