At the end of June, unemployment in Latvia had declined to the lowest level since the beginning of the crisis, as reported by the Director of the Latvian State Employment Agency Inese Kalvāne.
On the last day of June unemployment in Latvia had dropped to 8.9% of all economically active residents. As a comparison – the level of registered unemployment in Latvia had reduced by 0.5 percentage points this May, reaching 9.1% of the total number of economically active residents, said Kalvane in an interview to LNT.
She said 31,000 unemployed persons had found work in the first six months of 2014. SEA had offered a total of 21,000 jobs. SEA Director admits that some of these jobs are seasonal positions in agriculture, servicing sector and other economic sectors. Seasonal jobs have had a positive effect on the reduction of unemployment in Latvia. It is possible that unemployment may rise again this winter.
According to Kalvāne, Latvian residents’ interest to find jobs abroad remains low or even declines at the moment – SEA provides consultations to 10,000 – 12,000 persons annually.
When asked if she can predict when Latvia could run out of willing workers, Kalvāne mentioned estimates compiled by experts. These estimates imply Latvia may end up in such a situation in either 2016 or 2017. This is why solutions have to be discussed now. Experts say there is no significant rise of guest workers in Latvia.
Kalvāne admits SEA had expected a larger degree of interest of Latvian residents for the recently implemented mobility support initiative. At the moment, relocation benefits are paid to only 200 people in the country.
Source: Baltic News Network
http://bnn-news.com/unemployment-latvia-lowest-beginning-crisis-115966