EMPLOYMENT : REPORT: NO RECOVERY IN SIGHT BEFORE 2011.

The employment situation remains unfavourable throughout the Union and the prospects are not promising either. This year witnessed the loss of 4.3 million jobs EU-wide, and while the figures differ from one member state to the next, those hardest hit tend to be young people and low-skilled migrants, says the European Commission's annual Joint employment report' that was adopted and released on 15 December. According to the report, the worst still lies ahead before a modest improvement projected for the middle or end of 2011. The countries worst hit by the employment crisis are the Baltic states, Spain, Ireland and Hungary.

The report says that the crisis response measures implemented by the EU and the member states (including financial support provided by the EU) have greatly contributed to mitigating the job crisis. While urging the member states to combine short-term measures with long-term reforms, the report quotesaCommission President Jose Manuel Barroso as saying that "Coordinated measures [...] have significantly contributed to stabilising economies and stemming higher rises in unemployment in 2009. However, we now need to avoid further job losses and create jobs that have been lost in the past".

Slovakia, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic have had to spend the largest share of their GDP on fighting the job crisis.aAccording to the report, which provides an update on the employment situation throughout the Union, the member states have "considerably stepped up their employment and social policies under the three priorities of the European employment strategy - increasing labour supply and modernising the social protection system; improving the adaptability of workers and enterprises; and increasing investment in skills and human capital". Work has been made more "attractive" by member states and "high non-wage costs and the tax burden on labour" have been reduced by some of them. The social protection systems have also proved their effectiveness: automatic stabilisers have cushioned the immediate social impacts of the downturn, although to different degrees, within the EU, says the report.

The EU has supported member states mainly through the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European...