Unemployment

By Marcus Bensasson & Mark Evans

Antonis Samaras’s mission to end Greece’s exile from bond markets faces a reality check this week as data shows how deeply the economy remains mired in deflation with the worst jobless rate in the euro area.

Greek retail sales by volume fell 1.9 percent in January from the same month last year, statistics service ELSTAT said on Friday.

The reading had dropped at an annual pace of 6.1 percent in December.

The quality of life of children in Greece has worsened due to cuts in social benefits, a growing number of unemployed parents, increasing poverty levels and inadequate access to medical care, according to a report by the children’s charity UNICEF, whose findings were made public on Thursday.

A total of 46% of Bulgarians aged 15 years and above have been employed in 2013, according to Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute.

Bulgarians in Germany who are unable to find a job amount to 10 000, according to data revealing migration trends of EU citizens.

The share of unemployed Europeans in the country has gone up 5.3% over the past year, German website Local.de has reported.

Bulgaria is ranked sixth in the world in terms of mortality rates in CIA's World Factbook for March 2014, published on the website of the agency.

Unemployment rates in Bulgaria recorded a minimal 0.1% drop in February to 12.1%, according to latest data published by Eurostat.

More than 270,000 jobs will be created over the next few years, according to the medium and long-term forecasts of Bulgaria's Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

By Ian Wishart

Tackling unemployment and poverty should be a priority for European policy makers in order to cut public debt and boost growth, according to a paper to be discussed by European Union finance ministers.

The problem of youth unemployment in Bulgaria remains serious, but still there is an optimistic trend, according to Social Minister Hasan Ademov.