EU measures to tackle youth unemployment (Germany at 7.8% in May 2014 -- Greece 57.7% in March 2014)

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

European Commission, MEMO, Brussels, 8 July 2014:

What is the current situation?

5.2 million young people were unemployed in the EU-28 area in May 2014.
This represents an unemployment rate of 22.2% (23.3% in the euro area). More than one in five young Europeans on the labour market cannot find a job; in Greece and Spain it is one in two.
7.5 million young Europeans between 15 and 24 are not employed, not in education and not in training (NEETs).
In the last four years, the overall employment rates for young people fell three times as much as for adults.
The gap between the countries with the highest and the lowest jobless rates for young people remains extremely high. There is a gap of nearly 50 percentage points between the Member State with the lowest rate of youth unemployment (Germany at 7.8% in May 2014) and with the Member State with the highest rate, Greece (57.7% in March 2014). Greece is followed by Spain (54%), Croatia (48.7%), Italy (43%), Cyprus (37.3%), and Portugal (34.8%).
The potential of job mobility to help tackle youth unemployment could be further developed: the workforce in employment in the EU is around 216.1 million persons of which only 7.5 million (3.1%) are working in another Member State. EU surveys show that young people are the group most likely to be mobile.

The situation is clearly unacceptable: this is why the Commission has been working with Member States to tackle youth unemployment.

What is the EU doing?.................................http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-466_en.htm?locale=en

8/7/14

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