Page 24 - UKRRptNov19

4.4 Labour and income
4.4.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Source: ICU
Unemployment rate (%)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 EFF
6.4 6.4 8.8 8.1 7.9 7.5 7.2 9.3 9.1 9.3 9.4 9.3 8.8
Unemployment is starting to fall more noticeably. The unemployment level fell from 9.2% in the first quarter to 7.8% in the second -- its lowest level in five years.
Part of the reason for the fall is the improving economy and more job creation, but more negatively is the mass emigration of the work force to Ukraine’s neighbours simply mean there are not enough workers at home that is also driving down unemployment at home.
Unemployment is an issue for the new government, which has introduced new investment and liberalized labour laws that are designed to create 1mn legal jobs and to cut the unemployment rate to 5% in the nearest future -- in line with Poland, Romania and Moldova.
Due to a combination of economic growth and labour migration, Ukraine’s unemployment, as measured by the State Statistics Service, has fallen from 9.9% in 2017, to 8.8% in 2018, to 7.8% in the second quarter of this year.
24 UKRAINE Country Report November 2019 www.intellinews.com