European Commission, Spring 2015 Economic Forecast, Employment Situation

by Eduardo Petazze06/05/15

European economies are reducing unemployment in a million people per year, so it will take 12 years at that rate to achieve an unemployment rate of around 5%Eight countries, and as a whole the euro area, have unemployment rates above 10% of the workforce.

Of the 28 countries in the European Union, only 7 have a lower participation in the workforce to 70% (a floor for a healthy and prosperous economy).

The European Commission issued annually three medium-term forecasts on economic performance of its member countries, candidate countries and other relevant countries as benchmark.

Last press release: Spring 2015 Economic ForecastPress release Full document - pdf, 204 pages

Overview – pdf, 6 pagesClick on Country name to open the forecasts for this country

EU Member StatesBelgium LithuaniaBulgaria LuxembourgThe Czech Republic HungaryDenmark MaltaGermany The NetherlandsEstonia AustriaIreland PolandGreece PortugalSpain RomaniaFrance SloveniaCroatia SlovakiaItaly FinlandCyprus SwedenLatvia The United Kingdom

Candidate Countries Other Non-EU CountriesFYRoM ChinaIceland EFTA (Norway and Swiss)Montenegro JapanSerbia RussiaTurkey USA

As a summary of the expectations, we present two tables, which make up a necessary condition for economic health:the participation rate of the population (aged 15-64 years) in the labor market, and, of course, the unemployment rate.

Labour Force (1000 persons) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Unemployment (1000 persons) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016European Union 250,006 250,464 251,224 252,111 253,333 European Union 25,275 26,293 24,794 23,460 22,440

Euro Area (EA-19) 167,807 167,778 168,026 168,551 169,290 Euro Area (EA-19) 18,196 19,228 18,622 17,749 16,925Belgium 5,004 5,039 5,060 5,077 5,095 Belgium 369 417 423 419 406Germany 44,203 44,408 44,688 44,840 45,068 Germany 2,224 2,182 2,090 1,929 1,854Estonia 687 683 678 672 667 Estonia 68 59 50 42 39Ireland 2,155 2,164 2,157 2,153 2,175 Ireland 316 282 243 207 201Greece 5,227 5,208 5,179 5,149 5,144 Greece 1,195 1,330 1,273 1,222 1,103Spain 24,241 23,999 23,786 23,844 23,913 Spain 5,811 6,051 5,610 5,136 4,710France 30,328 30,431 30,463 30,639 30,845 France 2,858 3,010 3,015 3,032 2,964Italy 27,076 27,022 27,209 27,267 27,365 Italy 2,691 3,069 3,236 3,166 3,177Cyprus 430 428 421 420 420 Cyprus 52 69 70 70 66Latvia 1,034 1,017 996 994 988 Latvia 155 120 108 104 93Lithuania 1,473 1,465 1,477 1,481 1,486 Lithuania 197 172 158 147 135Luxembourg 243 249 254 260 265 Luxembourg 13 15 15 15 14Malta 183 191 198 203 207 Malta 11 12 11 11 12Netherlands 9,192 9,214 9,207 9,255 9,323 Netherlands 516 647 660 637 623Austria 4,400 4,453 4,492 4,529 4,561 Austria 209 231 245 256 253Portugal 5,445 5,340 5,277 5,266 5,256 Portugal 836 855 726 688 646Slovenia 1,036 1,034 1,038 1,040 1,042 Slovenia 90 102 98 95 93Slovakia 2,707 2,715 2,722 2,723 2,722 Slovakia 378 386 359 329 294Finland 2,745 2,719 2,724 2,740 2,749 Finland 207 219 232 244 242

Bulgaria 3,846 3,858 3,819 3,790 3,779 Bulgaria 410 436 385 348 327Czech Republic 5,378 5,423 5,415 5,409 5,419 Czech Republic 367 370 324 297 292Denmark 2,931 2,916 2,925 2,935 2,950 Denmark 219 202 191 180 172Croatia 1,873 1,852 1,902 1,895 1,896 Croatia 297 318 327 320 313Hungary 4,300 4,334 4,444 4,515 4,570 Hungary 473 441 343 306 271Poland 17,340 17,361 17,429 17,446 17,470 Poland 1,749 1,793 1,567 1,464 1,378Romania 9,442 9,377 9,424 9,516 9,630 Romania 627 653 629 617 605Sweden 5,030 5,084 5,122 5,174 5,229 Sweden 403 411 411 405 404United Kingdom 32,059 32,482 32,718 32,879 33,101 United Kingdom 2,534 2,441 1,995 1,775 1,754

European Commission – Spring 2015 Economic Forecast European Commission – Spring 2015 Economic ForecastParticipation Rate (*) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Unemployment Rate (*) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

European Union 74.2% 74.6% 74.9% 75.2% 75.6% European Union 10.1% 10.5% 9.9% 9.3% 8.9%Euro Area (EA-19) 75.4% 75.5% 75.7% 75.9% 76.3% Euro Area (EA-19) 10.8% 11.5% 11.1% 10.5% 10.0%

Belgium 68.6% 69.0% 69.2% 69.4% 69.5% Belgium 7.4% 8.3% 8.4% 8.3% 8.0%Germany 81.5% 81.6% 81.8% 81.8% 82.1% Germany 5.0% 4.9% 4.7% 4.3% 4.1%Estonia 78.0% 78.5% 78.7% 78.9% 79.2% Estonia 9.9% 8.6% 7.4% 6.2% 5.8%Ireland 71.0% 71.7% 71.7% 71.5% 71.7% Ireland 14.7% 13.0% 11.3% 9.6% 9.2%Greece 72.0% 72.4% 72.2% 71.9% 71.9% Greece 22.9% 25.5% 24.6% 23.7% 21.4%Spain 77.0% 76.9% 77.0% 77.5% 78.0% Spain 24.0% 25.2% 23.6% 21.5% 19.7%France 72.3% 72.8% 72.8% 73.3% 73.7% France 9.4% 9.9% 9.9% 9.9% 9.6%Italy 69.0% 68.8% 69.2% 69.3% 69.5% Italy 9.9% 11.4% 11.9% 11.6% 11.6%Cyprus 70.6% 70.7% 69.8% 69.8% 70.0% Cyprus 12.1% 16.1% 16.6% 16.7% 15.7%Latvia 75.9% 76.0% 75.5% 76.0% 76.0% Latvia 15.0% 11.8% 10.8% 10.4% 9.4%Lithuania 73.5% 73.9% 74.8% 75.3% 75.7% Lithuania 13.4% 11.7% 10.7% 9.9% 9.1%Luxembourg 66.3% 66.3% 66.2% 66.3% 66.3% Luxembourg 5.4% 6.0% 5.9% 5.7% 5.4%Malta 63.7% 66.4% 68.9% 70.9% 72.8% Malta 6.0% 6.3% 5.6% 5.6% 5.5%Netherlands 82.8% 83.2% 83.2% 83.6% 84.1% Netherlands 5.6% 7.0% 7.2% 6.9% 6.7%Austria 77.2% 77.9% 78.1% 78.4% 78.7% Austria 4.7% 5.2% 5.5% 5.6% 5.6%Portugal 78.5% 77.7% 77.3% 77.5% 77.6% Portugal 15.4% 16.0% 13.8% 13.1% 12.3%Slovenia 73.3% 73.6% 74.4% 74.9% 75.4% Slovenia 8.7% 9.9% 9.4% 9.2% 9.0%Slovakia 69.8% 70.3% 70.8% 71.1% 71.5% Slovakia 14.0% 14.2% 13.2% 12.1% 10.8%Finland 77.9% 77.5% 78.0% 78.7% 79.2% Finland 7.5% 8.1% 8.5% 8.9% 8.8%

Bulgaria 78.0% 79.3% 79.6% 80.0% 80.8% Bulgaria 10.7% 11.3% 10.1% 9.2% 8.6%Czech Republic 74.4% 75.9% 76.5% 76.7% 77.3% Czech Republic 6.8% 6.8% 6.0% 5.5% 5.4%Denmark 80.8% 80.4% 80.4% 80.5% 80.8% Denmark 7.5% 6.9% 6.5% 6.1% 5.8%Croatia 65.5% 65.1% 67.1% 67.2% 67.4% Croatia 15.9% 17.2% 17.2% 16.9% 16.5%Hungary 63.3% 64.2% 66.4% 67.9% 69.2% Hungary 11.0% 10.2% 7.7% 6.8% 5.9%Poland 63.5% 64.4% 65.1% 65.6% 66.2% Poland 10.1% 10.3% 9.0% 8.4% 7.9%Romania 68.9% 69.0% 69.9% 71.0% 72.4% Romania 6.6% 7.0% 6.7% 6.5% 6.3%Sweden 82.3% 83.1% 83.2% 83.5% 83.7% Sweden 8.0% 8.1% 8.0% 7.8% 7.7%United Kingdom 76.9% 77.9% 78.1% 78.0% 78.1% United Kingdom 7.9% 7.5% 6.1% 5.4% 5.3%

(*) Labour Force over Population from 15 to 64 years (*) Unemployment persons over Total Labour Force