Page 24 - UKRRptJul21

4.5 Labour and income
4.5.1 Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Unemployment in Ukraine jumped to 10.5% in the first quarter of this year y/y, the highest level in two decades.
Unemployment has been rising steadily since a low of 7.1% in fourth quarter of 2019, just before the various crises of 2020 hit and sent the rate soaring to reach 10.1% in fourth quarter of last year.
According to Opposition Platform - For Life MP Serhiy Lovochkin, the situation with employment and jobs was to some extent better even during two much deeper crises, in 2008-2009 and 2014-2015.
A total of 1.8mn people were jobless in the first quarter, up by 1.9pp, or 257,000 people compared to the same period a year earlier.
For those aged 15-70 years old 1.067mn jobs disappeared so that a total of 15.423mn are out of a job -- the worst absolute employment figure since Ukraine’s independence.
"More than 250,000 new unemployed persons in one year, more than 1mn jobs cut instead of creating the promised 500,000 jobs — this is the real result of the acting government’s activities," Lovochkin said as cited by Ukrainian News.
Driving the rise in unemployment is depopulation and population aging, decline in investments and deindustrialization, as well the ongoing conflict in the Donbas.
"All these factors force millions of labour migrants to leave Ukraine, thus cutting the employment in the country and the potential for economy revival. In such conditions, any job creation program will have only limited effects," Lovochkin said.
"Negative trends on labour market might be corrected by simply providing sustainable long-term economic growth at 5–7% rate during at least 10–15 years. And that needs increased investments, larger export, and higher labor efficiency. These will create demand and offer for new, more productive, and better paid jobs, increase employment, and stop the outflow of labour from Ukraine. Such scenario is only possible provided that the conflict in the Donbas ends," Lovochkin summed up.
24 UKRAINE Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com