Brussels, 05/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - On 6 February, Commissioner Anna Diamantopulou (social affairs) and the Latvian Minister of Social Affairs, Dagnija Stake, signed the Joint Assessment Paper (JAP) in Brussels defining the strategic priorities regarding employment for Latvia and underpins progress made by the country in fields such as equal opportunities (with the adoption of new legislative texts) and structural reforms. Furthermore, notes the paper, the unemployment rate is down, the reduction in the labour force seems to be coming to an end and the level of education of the labour force relatively high. Thus: the level of employment (58.9% in 2001) is five points less than the Community average; the level of long-term unemployment remains high (alone it represents 7.7% of the labour force); ethnicity and Latvian language skills seem to be the factor affecting employment opportunities. The joint paper thus calls for additional research to be undertaken into the fact that unskilled labourers have been excluded from normal jobs (their level of employment is only 35%) and that wage disparities remain between men and women.