Tuesday 30 June 2015

DANISH UNEMPLOYMENT

By some other countries' standards, Denmark has a low level of unemployment, just 4.8%. However, that figure is not evenly distributed. In some parts of the country it's 3% or less; in others, it's over 6%.

What is interesting is that it is often lowest in kommuner in "udkants Danmark", those far from the big cities. This is due not so much to booming growth in these areas, but the fact that able-bodied people of working age, notably the young, are fleeing to the big cities, leaving behind those who, by definition, can't be unemployed (because they are pensioners, or sick or otherwise can't work full-time).

The widening gap between the big cities and the countryside is slowly but surely moving up the political agenda here. If otherwise thriving rural businesses can't get the labour they need, then that gap is likely to increase before it narrows. And that concerns politicians of all stripes.

Walter Blotscher

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