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UNEMPLOYMENT

Surge in the number of jobless foreigners in Italy

There were 385,000 unemployed foreigners in 2012, the Ministry of Labour said on Monday. The rising number of jobless foreign men has the power to "destabilise the entire foreign community in Italy", the ministry warned.

Published: 15 July 2013 16:20 CEST
Surge in the number of jobless foreigners in Italy
The number of unemployed foreigners has increased signficantly in recent years. Photo: Controluce/AFP

The unemployment rate among non-Italians reached 14.1 percent, up two percent from the previous year and more than four points higher than the rate among Italians.

“The phenomenon of unemployment among foreigners, in a long period of crisis, is undoubtedly alarming,” the ministry said in its report.

However, the rate for unemployed foreigners is lower than the EU average of 17.8 percent, and well below Spain, where 36.1 percent of foreigners were out of work last year.

Of the 385,000 jobseeking foreigners in Italy, 120,000 were from EU member states while 265,000 were from outside.

The gender balance has changed in recent years; while 2012 saw equal numbers of men and women out of work, in 2008 there were 94,000 women out of work and just 67,000 men.

The rise of unemployed men signals a new phenomenon, which has the power to destabilize the entire foreign community in Italy, the ministry warned.

Beyond the country’s borders, the ministry said unemployment among foreigners “will be a key issue for Europe in the coming years”. 

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BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Published: 27 April 2021 16:46 CEST
Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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