Unemployment Rate in the States of Europe
The unemployment rate is an essential aspect of determining the country’s economic health. Despite falling in unemployment levels in Europe, they still remain high. The young job seekers find it hard to get a job and compete against others. The experienced workers are suffering under jobless rates twice as high as general unemployment.
Companies such as Microsoft and Fujitsu created many job opportunities in some of the countries. However, some fields, such as information technology, face shortness qualified workers. Due to this, the company has to hire workers from abroad instead of the country itself. The skill mismatch has no fast solution because it takes time to learn new skills. Many students opt for degrees that will help them to obtain such positions.
Out of 15.475 million men and women, 12.251 million in the European states were unemployed in December 2019. Compared to November 2019, the unemployment states have decreased by 80,000. The European countries seasonally adjusted the unemployment rate in December 2019 was 7.4% and 7.5% in November 2019.
Unemployment in the Member States
In December 2019, among all the member states of Europe, the lowest unemployment rate recorded in the Czech Republic of 2.0%. Germany and the Netherlands come in the second position with a rate of 3.2%. The highest rate of unemployment observed in Greece with 16.6% and Spain with 13.7%. As compared with last year, the unemployment rates fell in 21 states. However, they remain the same in Denmark. The unemployment rates increased in Cyprus (7.4% to 7.6%), Slovenia (4.4% to 4.6%), Lithuania (5.8% to 6.1%), Portugal (6.6% to 6.9%), Luxembourg (5.2% to 5.6%), and Sweden (6.5% to 6.9%). The largest decrement observed in Greece (18.5% to 16.6%), Bulgaria (4.7% to 3.7%), and Croatia (7.3% to 6.4%). The unemployment rate in the United States was stable, with 3.5% compared with November 2019.
Youth Unemployment in Europe
In December 2019, the number of unemployed youth was 3.155 million, out of which 2.213 million were from member states. Compared to December 2018, youth unemployment decreased in 143,000 in Europe. The youth unemployment rate was 14.1% in December 2019 and in member states, it was 15.3%. The lowest rates of youth unemployment in December 2019 recorded in the Czech Republic (4.3%), Germany (5.8%), and Netherlands (6.7%), while the highest rates were Greece (35.6%), Spain (30.0%), and Italy (28.9%).
Unemployment rates move cyclically and related to the general business cycle. However, other factors that affect unemployment rates are labor market policies and demographic developments. Youth unemployment is usually much higher than the unemployment rates of all ages. Among the rates for the total population, the youth unemployment rate sharply decreased between 2005 and 2007. The high youth unemployment rates reflect the problems faced by young individuals in finding jobs. The youth unemployment ratio calculates the share of unemployed for the whole population.
Longer-Term Unemployment Trends
There are some unemployment trends that have long term effects on the country’s economy. These are:
Trends in Europe: Unemployment Rate at Low Time
At the beginning of 2000, the number of unemployed people was more than 20.5 million. The unemployment trend at that time was low. In 2001, the number of unemployed persons had dropped to 19.6 million. At the end of 2004, the unemployment rate was 9.2%, and the number of job seekers exceeds to 21.2 million. In mid-2010, the unemployment rate rises to more than 6.7 billion. Since 2011 and until the end of 2013, the unemployment rate remarkably increased by the rate of 11%. After that, at the end of 2018, the rate has decreased and reached a low level of 6.6%.
Trends in the United States and Japan
The unemployment rate in the United States was around 4% in 2000. The rates remained lower until early 2008. By the beginning of 2009, the rates in the United States reached the same level as Europe and reached above in 2010. At the end of 2018, the unemployment rates decreased and reached 3.8%. In Japan, unemployment rates were much lower than in Europe between 2000 and 2018, ranging from 5.4% to 2.4%.
Gender Unemployment in the States
Historically, women get more affected by unemployment than men. The unemployment rate for women was 10%, while the rate for men was 8% in 2000. But this gender gap narrowed between 2002 and 2007. In 2009, the male unemployment rate was higher than that of the women. The decline of men’s unemployment rate during 2010 and 2011, the stability in women’s rate, brought the male rate below once again. At the end of 2013, both male and female unemployment rates started to decline and reached 6.3% and 6.9%, respectively.
The unemployment rates are an important factor for both social and economic dimensions. The unemployment rate is considered a lagging factor, and it usually takes several months to change the unemployment rates.
