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Employment decreases 1.4% in Q2 2014

07/10/2014 12:04
Employment in Cyprus decreased by 1.4% in the second quarter of 2014, according to the European Commission`s latest Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review published on Monday.

The period between 2008 until the first quarter of 2014 the employment in Cyprus recorded a decrease of 10.3%, while in Greece it registered a decrease by 14% and in Spain by 9.8%.

The quarterly review points out that the economic recovery which started in the spring of 2013 remains fragile and future employment developments remain uncertain.

Employment has continued to grow in most sectors since mid-2013. The number of hours worked rose and, for the first time since 2011, there has been a small increase in full time contracts and improvements in the situation of young people. However, many of the new jobs created are part-time or temporary.

Unemployment still remains close to historically high levels. And the long-term unemployed represent a large and growing share of total unemployment, with almost 13 million people having been unemployed for more than one year. Moreover, one in three unemployed people have spent more than two years without a job.

For young people, the situation has improved, with significant reductions in unemployment rates in most Member States. Nevertheless, youth unemployment remains very high in countries such as Greece and Spain. Among those who have a job, almost half are on temporary jobs and nearly a quarter works part-time.

The review highlights that, as recent research by the OECD and the Commission shows, not only formal education but also training and skills acquired during working life improve the chances of finding a job.

Furthermore, life-long learning also makes it more likely to have better paid positions. However, the EU still lags behind countries such as Japan, Canada, Korea and the US in skills proficiency.

An analysis of income indicators reveals that, even during the years of economic expansion, economic growth did not benefit all households equally, nor did it contribute to reduce inequalities in all Member States. With the economic crisis, GDP per capita and gross disposable household incomes declined across the EU and have not yet returned to the pre-crisis levels in many countries.

This topic will be discussed in a high level expert conference on Moving beyond GDP in European economic governance which will take place in Brussels on the 10th of October 2014.