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NewsFlash: June 24, 2008

Job quality growing concern in euro countries

A new report by the European Labour Network for Economic Policy (ELNEP) examines job growth and the quality of those jobs in the countries that united their currency in 1999. 

The report, just posted to the Global Policy Network’s website, is entitled:

More and better jobs: – Labour market developments in the euro area since 1999. It finds are a mix of positive trends and worrisome ones. On the positive side, the study shows good progress in raising employment rates – with some 13 million added jobs – and in bring unemployment down to the lowest levels in a generation (although still higher than in the United States).

On the worrisome front, the researchers found some potential trouble spots. The report notes: “Regarding job quality, there are a number of important areas of concern. Involuntary part-time work and the use of fixed-term contracts have increased inexorably. In a number of countries, but not all, wage inequality has increased dramatically. Specifically the share of workers in Germany and the Netherlands earning less than two thirds of the median hourly wage is now almost as high as in the USA.” 

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