01. 03. 10. - 15:00

Government under fire as jobless figure nears 400,000

Opposition parties have hit out at the government as unemployment figures hit a new high.

Statistics presented by the labour ministry today (Mon) show that more than ever people living in Austria were without a job in February.

Officials said it was the first time in the country’s post-war history that as many as 312,906 people had no work in that month. If people taking re-education courses offered by the Labour Market service (AMS) are considered, the February figures jump to 396,332, a 10.2 per cent year on year increase.

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer today warned 2010 will be a "very difficult year".

Opposition party officials meanwhile hit out at the government coalition formed by the SPÖ and the Peoples Party (ÖVP) and its labour market policies.

Freedom Party (FPÖ) labour market issues spokesman Herbert Kickl called on Hundstorfer to review the sense of the AMS re-education classes.

"It’s about time to filter out those courses which turn out to be pointless," he said.

Greens MP Birgit Schatz claimed the government’s labour market policies had "failed".

Schatz especially blasted the fact that – with 7,780 – 33.1 per cent more people had been looking for a job for 12 months or longer last month.

AMS head Johannes Kopf meanwhile warned unemployment figures would not decline either this nor next year.

Kopf said he expected the situation to improve by 2012 earliest.

He claimed the liberalisation of the Austrian labour market to new European Union member states in Central and Eastern Europe set for 2011 would make the situation more difficult.

The AMS boss however also stressed signs of a recovery for Austrian industry were already visible.

It seems that part-time work schemes are still regarded as an effective measure to beat the crunch without having to dismiss staff, since more than 26,000 people had part-time contracts last month.

But Kopf said that the 26,425 part-time workers at 224 Austrian firms was a decrease compared to the previous month when 29,384 people did part-time work.

Companies located in the province of Lower Austria had most workers working under part-time contracts with 8,062, followed by Upper Austria (5,571) and Styria (5,433).

AMS figures also showed a 5.6 per cent year on year rise of trainees looking for a position. It said that 5,278 young people hoping to work as trainees had no employment in February.

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