More resources for job creation
The government has more than tripled the budget devoted to fighting unemployment. The new National Action Plan on Unemployment, unveiled yesterday by Labor Minister Dimitris Reppas has a budget of 2.285 billion euros targeted at about 1.4 million beneficiaries, against a budget of 733.68 million and 570,000 beneficiaries in last year’s action plan. Reppas emphasized that Greek unemployment, the second highest in the EU, has been declining steadily: From 11.9 percent of the total workforce in 1999, the percentage of jobless has dropped to 11.1 percent in 2000 and 10.5 percent in 2001. Most of the 444,700 jobless at the end of 2001 are people who have never joined the labor market, Reppas said, adding that safety nets such as family support have prevented, to some extent, misery and destitution from becoming widespread. In 2001, 91,000 jobs were created in industry and services; agricultural employment dropped 6.5 percent, due mostly to voluntary retirement. Reppas remarked that «labor, in Greece, is far more protected in comparison to the other European countries» and said that there is a need to approach European practices in that regard, especially in expanding part-time and temporary employment. In Greece, the part-time employed account for 3.5 percent of the workforce, against 17.9 percent in Europe. Reppas said he is open to a revision of the employment law passed at the end of 2000. «As long as the government achieves its budget targets for this year and thereby lowers the public debt burden, this will eventually restore market confidence and lead to a decline in real interest rates,» it said.
