For the first time since April 2011, the number of people without a job in the Eurozone decreased. The jobless total fell by 24,000, to 19.26 million unemployed; however, this minuscule number failed to change the unemployment rate, which remains at a record 12.1 percent across the Eurozone.
Some see this as a sign that the economic situation in the Eurozone may be stabilizing; Timo del Carpio, European economist at RBC Capital Markets, stated, "While the latest data are far from suggesting a quick turnaround, the stabilization provides some relief from the relentless rise in the number of unemployed to date." However, while the European Union as a whole may be improving, many member countries are still in the depths of economic failure. Spain remains at a 26.3 percent unemployment rate, and Greece sits at 26.9 percent.
A much more frightening figure however, is the levels of underemployed and unemployed youth across Europe. During June, 5.51 million young people were unemployed in the European Union, and 3,526 youth were underemployed within the Eurozone. The youth unemployment rate within Spain is a dangerously high 56.1 percent, and even more frightening still can be found in Greece were the rate teeters at 58.7 percent.
These exceptionally high youth unemployment rates found across Europe are the warning signs of a rocky future. Unemployed youth means much more than young people living relying on parents, friends, or government services, and it has great implications about the future workforce. Research shows that workers who are unemployed as young adults lack much of the knowledge required in the workplace, and many earn lower wages in the following years.
A healthy economy depends upon many things, but perhaps nothing more than a healthy workforce. The European recession may be stabilizing in some aspects for the moment, but until the unemployment rate for youth under 25 returns to a healthy number the European Union will never fully heal.
Photo: UNDP in Europe and Central Asia (cc).
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Photo Friday: Jobless Total Decreases in Eurozone
August 2, 2013
For the first time since April 2011, the number of people without a job in the Eurozone decreased. The jobless total fell by 24,000, to 19.26 million unemployed; however, this minuscule number failed to change the unemployment rate, which remains at a record 12.1 percent across the Eurozone.
Some see this as a sign that the economic situation in the Eurozone may be stabilizing; Timo del Carpio, European economist at RBC Capital Markets, stated, "While the latest data are far from suggesting a quick turnaround, the stabilization provides some relief from the relentless rise in the number of unemployed to date." However, while the European Union as a whole may be improving, many member countries are still in the depths of economic failure. Spain remains at a 26.3 percent unemployment rate, and Greece sits at 26.9 percent.
A much more frightening figure however, is the levels of underemployed and unemployed youth across Europe. During June, 5.51 million young people were unemployed in the European Union, and 3,526 youth were underemployed within the Eurozone. The youth unemployment rate within Spain is a dangerously high 56.1 percent, and even more frightening still can be found in Greece were the rate teeters at 58.7 percent.
These exceptionally high youth unemployment rates found across Europe are the warning signs of a rocky future. Unemployed youth means much more than young people living relying on parents, friends, or government services, and it has great implications about the future workforce. Research shows that workers who are unemployed as young adults lack much of the knowledge required in the workplace, and many earn lower wages in the following years.
A healthy economy depends upon many things, but perhaps nothing more than a healthy workforce. The European recession may be stabilizing in some aspects for the moment, but until the unemployment rate for youth under 25 returns to a healthy number the European Union will never fully heal.
Photo: UNDP in Europe and Central Asia (cc).
