EMPLOYMENT

Denmark is slowly pulling itself out of the trough it entered back in 2008. Between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2014 the economy created a net 29,000 jobs. What's most cheering is that although fiscal austerity has led to 12,500 fewer jobs in the public sector, that is more than balanced by the creation of 41,500 jobs in the private sector.

However, not everything is rosy. Almost 33,000 of those new jobs were in either Copenhagen or Aarhus, accentuating the trend that jobs are moving to the big cities. Elsewhere, private sector job creation has been modest; and in South Zealand and on Bornholm it has been negative. In these areas, and in West and Northern Jutland (the so-called "edges" of Denmark) net employment is still falling. Without something new, that is likely to continue, bringing social problems in its wake.

Walter Blotscher