Austria registered a rise in joblessness last month – but the number of employed people rose as well.
Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer announced yesterday (Weds) that 3.28 million residents of the country had a job in January, 1.7 per cent more than in the same month of last year. He added that the number of unemployed people increased by 1.5 per cent at the same time.
The minister said he was satisfied with most labour market developments but also admitted that there were “some worrisome aspects”. The number of offered positions declined by 14 per cent from January 2011 to the same month of this year. Figures also show that Austria’s youth unemployment increased by 6.8 per cent.
Vienna recorded the strongest rise in unemployment last month at 5.1 per cent, followed by Burgenland (1.8 per cent) and Styria (1.6 per cent). With Vorarlberg, Upper Austria and Carinthia, only three of Austria’s nine provinces managed to lower their jobless rates in January. The western region of Vorarlberg did best as the number of residents out of work decreased by 6.1 per cent from January 2010 to last month.
Mild temperatures kept building companies from registering their workers as unemployed until spring while large amounts of snow increased the number of waiters, chefs and maids with work in the Alps. Detailed figures also show that the domestic retail trade engaged a large number of additional staff last month – but analysts point out that companies and shops are asking more and more staff to do short-time instead of working full-time. Labour experts fear that single parents, young families and elderly people were dragged closer to poverty by this development.
Austria had the lowest jobless rate among all 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) last month at 4.1 per cent. The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) said yesterday it was nevertheless “inappropriate” to be overly confident. The party made aware of rising unemployment among elderly people and poorly skilled labourers. The Greens – another Austrian opposition party – called on SPÖ and People’s Party (ÖVP) to increase the state’s minimum wage and unemployment benefits.
The Viennese Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) recently warned that the domestic economy would grow less strongly than initially expected. The research groups also warned of an increase of unemployment in Austria in 2012 before the economic circumstances could improve in 2013 – given that a collapse of the Eurozone was avoided.
Only last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the average gross domestic product (GDP) of the 17 EU member states which used the Euro (Eurozone) may decline by 0.5 per cent this year. The organisation corrected its growth forecast for the global economy from four to 3.3 per cent. It said Spain must brace for a GDP decline of 1.7 per cent. Italy’s economy will shrink by 2.2 per cent from 2011 to 2012, according to IMF analysis.
Austria’s joblessness and the number of people in employment are both rising mainly because of the full liberalisation of the job market to people from all EU member states in Eastern Europe (EE) except Romania and Bulgaria. A directive of the EU forced Austrian labour market authorities to ensure that people from all states which joined the EU in 2004 must not be disadvantaged in any way when looking for work in the country as of 1 May 2011.
