Unemployment in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is high and job creation is  weak,  despite  impressive reform efforts in many countries of  the region  and  a decade of strong economic growth before the 2009 crisis,  says a  new World Bank report  “Back to Work: Growing with Jobs in Europe and Central Asia”.

The report recommends actions in two main policy areas to create more and better jobs in ECA: 1) laying the fundamentals  for job creation  through an  enabling  macroeconomic and business environment that allows  existing firms to grow and new firms to emerge and succeed  or fail quickly  and at low cost; and 2) supporting workers  to tap into  new job opportunities, so that they have  the right skills  and work incentives, unhindered access to the labor market,  and  are able  to  move to places with more job creation potential.

According to the report, employment creation in the region was slow even before the crisis (2000-2007), when the region grew faster than many other emerging economies.  ECA economies and employment levels in particular were then severely affected by the 2009 crisis; and job creation remains sluggish in the post-crisis recovery.  In 2012, the average unemployment rate for Europe and Central Asia stood at 14 percent.  A worrying factor is that about half of all unemployed people have been looking for a job for more than a year.  Young and older workers, women, and ethnic minorities are more likely to be jobless or employed in informal or low-wage jobs.  For example, one in five young people in ECA is neither working, nor searching for work, nor studying.

In analyzing the factors behind this worrying situation, the report arrives at five main conclusions: