EU: Nearly half of unemployed still out of work a year on

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times

EU: Nearly half of unemployed still out of work a year on*


The Associated Press
Monday, November 23, 2009; 8:49 AM

BRUSSELS -- Nearly half of Europe's unemployed stay out of work for at
least a year, a European Union report said Monday, far more than in the U.S.

Some 4 million people have lost their jobs since last year's financial
crisis triggered an economic downturn across the 27-nation bloc, which
is not expected to fully recover until 2011.

The EU's executive commission said long-term unemployment in the region
is a serious threat because "close to 45 percent of all unemployment
spells last longer than a year compared with only about 10 percent in
the United States."

On average, workers over the age of 55 are out of work for nearly 15
months, people between 25-54 are jobless for 12 months while younger
people under 25 take around 10 months to find another job.

The EU warned that strict employment protection legislation tends to
increase long-term unemployment. It is urging EU nations with a high
number of people out of work for long periods to learn from Denmark and
Britain, where looser rules make companies readier to hire and fire workers.

The EU is expected to lose 7 million jobs this year and next year, with
unemployment rising to over 10 percent in 2010. The EU jobless rate was
9.2 percent in September. Young men and workers with temporary contracts
are the worst affected, the EU commission says.

Jobless rates have risen the fastest in Spain, Ireland, Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia where the downturn put the brakes on booming
economies with rocketing house prices.