Though industrial production in Slovakia has been growing since the end of the economic crisis, companies based in the country have not yet hired as many employees as they earlier dismissed. This has resulted in Slovakia having the highest unemployment rate among the Visegrad Group (V4) of countries, according to UniCredit Bank analyst, Dávid Dereník. However, it is also has the highest labour productivity in the V4 – which also includes the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – the TASR newswire reported.
“We produce more, but with a lower employment rate, so labour productivity has significantly increased,” Dereník said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the largest numbers of people were laid off in the textile and wood industries and in the production of electronics.
“When it comes to productivity, we produce up to 79 percent of what an average EU citizen does, but if our unemployment rate equalled the one in Austria, our current productivity would not be enough to reach their living standards,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published statistics on the unemployment rates among its member states. Slovakia had the third highest jobless rate in Europe, 13.5 percent, surpassed only by Spain, with 22.9 percent, and Ireland, with 14.6 percent, the SITA newswire reported.
Average unemployment in the OECD in November remained the same as in October (8.2 percent), as did the average unemployment rate in the eurozone (10.3 percent).
Source: TASR, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
