By: Dr. Mike Campbell
Re-employment always lags behind the economic recovery since businesses need to be sure that they need additional staff over the longer term once their order books begin to fill. The recent global financial recession was the deepest since the Great Depression of the inter war years. Typically, in an economic cycle following a recession, growth and re-employment are much stronger than has been the case this time, however, some good news does seem to be on the horizon.
According to Eurostat, the level of unemployment within the 17 countries which use the Euro has fallen to below 10% for the first time in more than a year. The figure for February came in just below the 10% mark at 9.9%. A closer analysis of the data shows that the unemployment picture within the Eurozone is very heterogeneous. In the Netherlands, just 4.3% of the workforce is unemployed whereas in Spain 20.5% of the population of working age are looking for work. In Germany, the powerhouse economy of the Eurozone region, unemployment stands at 6.3%. Across the Eurozone as a whole, some 15.8 million citizens are currently without work.
Data released in the USA last week shows that unemployment there has fallen for the second consecutive month. The figure is the best seen in America for two years and reveals that 8.8% of the workforce is currently unemployed (March data). The figure has eased from 8.9% in February and has improved by more than one percent over the last four month period. The private sector was responsible for the creation of most of the new jobs, a situation which is likely to continue as America tries to reduce its deficit.