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UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE eurozone eased, with the rate edging down to 11.8 percent in March, according to official data today, with small signs of improvement in Greece’s high jobless rate.
But the ravages of economic crisis on job prospects for young people were also highlighted, particularly in Greece and Spain.
About 18.91 million people remained unemployed in the 18-member eurozone in March, down 22,000 from the February level and 316,000 from the level a year earlier, the Eurostat statistics agency said.
Eurozone economies are struggling at different speeds into growth and away from the crisis downturn but the effect on unemployment, at near record high levels in some countries, is lagging behind and is likely to continue doing so, economists have warned.
Our own rate of unemployment fell to 11.7 per cent with just over 29,000 less people signing on in April.
The eurozone country faring the worst was Greece, with an unemployment rate of 26.7 percent of the workforce, although the recession-hit economy is clawing its way back from the 27.2 percent rate of December, the month with the latest data available.
Austria has the lowest unemployment figure in the eurozone, with joblessness at 4.9 percent, followed by Germany’s 5.1 percent.
The rate in bailed-out eurozone members Ireland and Portugal remained stable, with Ireland’s March unemployment at 11.8 percent, down slightly from the previous month’s 11.9, while Portugal was unchanged at 15.2 percent.
Across the wider 28-member European Union, unemployment came in at 10.5 percent in March – almost no change from the previous month but comparing favourably to the 10.9 percent of March 2013.
Overall, the number of jobless across the EU dropped by 66,000 since February, with 929,000 more people employed today than at the same time in 2013.
Unemployment among young people as a result of the financial and then eurozone debt crises is a particular worry for governments which have spoken of a “lost generation”.
Eurostat showed that the March youth unemployment rate in the single currency bloc was at 23.7 percent, compared to the 24.0 percent levels of March 2013.
In March, there were more than 3.4 million unemployed people aged under 25 in the eurozone.
The countries with the highest youth unemployment levels were Greece (56.8 percent) and Spain (53.9 percent), with Germany and Austria faring the best, at 7.8 percent and 9.5 percent respectively.
- © AFP 2014.
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As usual trying to put a good spin on Ireland’s figures. Most of our improvement is due to “scambridge” hiring interns.
Most countries have internships. My friend is doing one in London.
And most of Germanys low figure is accountable due to the fact that they don’t have a minimum hourly wage – I’m not sure if it is the same in Austria. This means people can be working, legally, for nothing. Just another way that a government is trying to hide it’s unemployment rate.
Although, some quick googling to fact check shows that Germany have actually agreed to introduce a minimum wage by next year – Let’s see if they keep the same low unemployment levels with that.
Bobby, the difference between an internship and the ‘job’bridge interns is that any employer can hire as many job bridge interns as they want, pay them nothing, and then let them go after the time, and then just hire another poor soul to do the exact same job. No promise to keep them on, and in a lot of cases you see, no real value to the internships offered (stacking shelves, washing cars etc.).
Exactly, it’s mostly completely taken advantage of.
It is a crap system, but it’s the same in England, graduates doing interns stacking shelves. Recently a graduate was sent to work in a pound shop by the jobcentre to stack shelves. She took them to court and won?
So just because they are taking complete advantage of young unemployed people in Britain, it’s grand that we’re doing the same here?
Nope, I never said that, just letting you know you’re not alone.
Ah sorry, my misunderstanding. I thought you were just trying to justify the system because it happens elsewhere.
Actually, I believe Germany has just introduced a minimum wage (€8.50) in the last few weeks.
White Fang, yes I know and linked to an article about it (as it was news to me until I looked it up) in my post above.
Maybe people should look up the definition of internships. Then compare them to what happens on the jobsbridge scam!
Sorry Dave, I completely missed that!
@alan Most of our improvement is due to high end IT, Pharma and Finance jobs. Basic maths kiddo (which ironically is the reason you wouldn’t get a job in any of those sectors.)
Every job in FAS/Solas is for this scam, and scam it is when local auctioneers & solicitors advertising for staff promising a good internship, funded by money stolen from private pension accounts, most vile Government in the history of the state.l
@Bobby
I don’t know if it’s the same story, but I read about a woman with a history degree who was serving as a volunteer intern in a museum.
But her local job centre told her she couldn’t volunteer as that meant she wasn’t “available for work”. They then promptly put her to work in Dealz. And she would lose her dole payment if she refused to take the “job”. So she ended up working a 40 hour week against her will for approx £70.
Dealz wins. Job centre wins. Everyone but the poor woman who was working towards a more permanent placement in the museum wins.
Thanks for that Tom.
The BBC said last week, 26 million people unemployed in the EU
Bobby what possible reason could Eurostat have for manipulation of the true figures.
26 million unemployed in the EU, 18 million in the Eurozone.
Does anybody have an accurate figure as to what our unemployment rate would look like without the old immigration release valve? I imagine we’d be looking at close to the same rate as Greece. We sure are lucky that we speak English and can ship out all those workers for whom there are no jobs.
18 million jobless in the EU and still hundreds of thousands on non EU migrants are allowed enter Europe looking for work every year…madness
I’d love to know out of that 18.9 million how many are people that never want to work . Freeloaders if you will.
With any luck Gilmore will be out of a job soon.
Going by some of the regular trolls….probably 18 million or so..sure who,d want to work when you can live in luxury on the scratcher..and the sort of tripe these idiots post.
The people out of work need help people like you gay only make the situation worse !!
Who are the freeloaders to which you refer? Politicans such as our own, spineless lot? or people in long term unemployment on benefits who require said benefits to survive? We know who gets the blame these days and its the latter.
Yes its so much fun been on the dole and trying to scrape by on 100euro a week…madness!.and you have the cheek to call us all freeloaders?.funnily enough most of us would rather be working and earning some sort of living for ourselves as opposed to living on peanuts!.
well said Denise. the contempt is disgraceful
Thank you Sean, I just get tired of hearing how we are all lazy so-and-so’s when its not the case at all…i got laid off a couple of weeks back simply because there wasnt enough work and have had no luck with finding another job
At 5000 jobs a month Happy Gilmore will have it sorted in 300 years. On a side note… That labour, 70000 jobs ad (blatant lie) at the bottom is making me sick.
I am glad to see those good for nothing screw balls in Leinster house got them self A3Job .
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