Shortage of new firms jams labour market recovery

Abstract

Unemployment is already higher than in the recession year 2009. At the same time, unemployment growth is due less to new unemployment spells and increasingly to weaker employment opportunities for the already unemployed. The number of new job vacancies has decreased in recent years, and the vacancy filling rate has slowed down. One reason behind the shortage of new jobs is the lack of new firms, which create the largest number of jobs. The frozen labour market will slow restructuring of the economy and weakens the outlook for growth.