Employment figures decline

According to Institution of Statistics, the employment figures have fallen from 58.8% in the first three months of the past year, to 54.1% in March of this year. This means that one in two people belonging to the age group 15-64 is unemployed.

The Institution of Statistics says that the main cause is related to the crisis of the construction sector, but numbers in parallel show another negative tendency. The number of discouraged people is quickly growing and according to Institution of Statistics, the number of people who have stopped looking for jobs because they don’t think they will find it increased from 25.000 in the first trimester of the past year, to 10.000 in this year.

Because these individuals are not taken in account in the unemployment figures, there a deformed decrease of this indicator. Although the government says that unemployment in Albania has not increased, numbers show that the crisis consequences have been strong. Not only the number of employed people has not decreased, but also wage levels dropped for the first time since 2006.

According to Bank of Albania, low wages decreased with 4.1%, but combinated with the increased cost of living, the real drop is 5.6% or almost one wage for year. Beyond the official unemployment figures, there are less employed people in Albania and less revenues from wages. An economy that is based on consumption at 66.6% is bound to experience this combination even more badly.

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