'Eurozone labor markets continue to improve thereby supporting growth in household incomes and consumer spending'. This is what we read in the ECB bulletin which underlines how employment is currently almost 1% above the pre-crisis peak reached in the first quarter of 2008. The unemployment rate in the Eurozone was 9,1% in August, unchanged compared to the previous two months and 3 percentage points below the post-crisis peak of April 2013. 'The decline – we read – was well distributed by age group and gender'.
Long-term unemployment, ie beyond 12 months, is also continuing to fall but remains well above the pre-crisis peaks. 'The information coming from the surveys - concludes the bulletin - indicate sustained improvements in the labor markets in the coming months. At the same time in which some countries and sectors there are growing signs of labor shortages'.
