European Leaders Revisit Scourge of Youth Unemployment
By Patrick Donahue - Nov 12, 2013 4:14 AM ET .
European leaders struggling to shake off the legacy of the euro-area debt crisis will today return to the challenge of how to overcome the scourge of joblessness among the region’s youth.
French President Francois Hollande will host counterparts including Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Paris for a summit on unemployment among the young. They’ll unveil their latest battery of proposed measures after the jobless rate for those under the age of 25 climbed to 24.1 percent in September, matching a record.
“It really is a long haul,” Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec in London, said in an interview in which he called youth unemployment “pervasive” in Europe. “The most one can hope for is a set of constructive talks.”
Total unemployment across the 17-nation euro area is at 12.2 percent, also the highest since the currency zone was created.
After the European Central Bank surprised markets last week with an interest-rate cut to aid economic growth, leaders will seek to show that they’re taking action to salve one of the region’s most open wounds. Letta has described youth joblessness as the “true nightmare” of Italy, which this week may announce a ninth straight quarter of economic contraction.
In Letta’s country, the euro-region’s third-biggest economy, youth unemployment rose to a record 40.4 percent in September, evidence of the harsh environment for new workforce entrants that dominates southern Europe.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-12/european-leaders-revisit-scourge-of-region-s-youth-unemployment.html
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