We last looked at these countries last December; the graph above gives an update with data through April 2011 in most cases (from Eurostat).
As you can see, Germany is absolutely thriving, with unemployment lower than it's been in a decade. France and Italy are not great but not terrible: unemployment is not too high, and it's falling. Spain, Ireland, Greece, and Portugal are all in dreadful shape - unemployment is very high, and either clearly still rising (Greece), or at best uncertain as to whether recovery has really set in firmly (Ireland).
Here, I basically buy the storyline of American critics of the Euro - these economies shouldn't be tied together by a common monetary policy and a common exchange rate. The needs of the German economy and the Spanish economy right now couldn't be more different.
4 comments:
Hi, Stuart. The key selling point for European unification, as I remember it, was that unification would improve the economy. I think that ought not be forgotten.
Art
But what about the USA? How does unemployment vary from state to state? Is it more homogenous? Maybe the needs of the California economy and the Mississippi economy right now couldn't be more different?
John: you can see those numbers (and a map) at the BLS. There is definitely a spread, but much less than in Europe. Probably the biggest issue is that unemployment is low in Maryland and Virginia, so the issue doesn't seem very real to policy folks inside the beltway...
Stuart,
The trend of the graphs is clear but just a small reflection on statistics. Since 2007 the unemployment statistics in all EU countries should follow EU regulations which in turn are based on the ILO, International Labour Organization, definitions. This means for example that all studying youngsters that are looking for a full or part time job are considered unemployed. As an example 45 % of the unemployed between the age of 15 and 24 in Sweden are studying full time. This age group constitutes 27 % of the labour force.
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