The November 2002 employment survey from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik), conducted on the basis of employers’ payments into the ATP (labour market supplementary pension) system, shows that 20,200 people lost full-time jobs from the second to the third quarter of 2002. This was 15,500 more people than expected by experts in the labour market field. The situation is worst in the industrial sector, in which employment fell by 6,700, and in the building sector, where 5,100 jobs were lost. In the municipal sector, employment fell by about 3,400. On the whole, public sector employment declined by 6,400, while the private sector suffered a loss of 13,500.
Quarterly figures published by Danmarks Statistik in November 2002 show a large fall in employment in Denmark, while the unemployment rate, which has stood at around 5% for nearly five years, is now rising again. The fall in employment has contradicted the government's expectations and caused surprise in trade union circles.
The November 2002 employment survey from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik), conducted on the basis of employers’ payments into the ATP (labour market supplementary pension) system, shows that 20,200 people lost full-time jobs from the second to the third quarter of 2002. This was 15,500 more people than expected by experts in the labour market field. The situation is worst in the industrial sector, in which employment fell by 6,700, and in the building sector, where 5,100 jobs were lost. In the municipal sector, employment fell by about 3,400. On the whole, public sector employment declined by 6,400, while the private sector suffered a loss of 13,500.
The fall in employment was much greater than the increase in unemployment, though the latter has started to rise, having been around the 5% mark for nearly five years. This seems to point in the direction of a fall in the size of the Danish labour force, which is quite contrary to the government’s expectations. Calculations from the Danish Employers’ Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) estimate that the decline the labour force has been so great so far in 2002 that it would it have to rise by 94,000 people during the last quarter of 2002 if the government’s forecasts for 2002 are to be achieved.
The major fall in employment has come as a surprise for the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) although it had expected a certain drop in the industrial sector and in trade and commerce. The loss of 5,000 jobs in the public and in the building sector has surprised LO economists.
Employees with higher education are being particularly hard hit by unemployment, as demonstrated by both Statistics Denmark figures and statistics from the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC). Unemployment among this group increased by as much as 37.2 % between the third quarter of 2001 and third quarter of 2002. Nearly 10,000 workers with higher education are now unemployed - the highest level of unemployment since the summer of 1998. All occupations in this group – with the exception of doctors and pharmacists – have been hit, most notably new graduates who have an unemployment rate of 50%, and there are no signs to indicate a fall in unemployment in the short term.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2002), Employment levels start to fall, article.
