Germany / To Help Spain, Portugal and Greece and Greece on youth unemployment

The German government on Wednesday (22 May) announced a series of conferences and bilateral programmes to help youngsters from Spain, Portugal and Greece find a job, as regional statistics show 17 times more unemployed youngsters in northern Greece compared to Bavaria.

According to the EU’s statistical office Eurostat, youth unemployment in the northern-Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia stood at 72.5 percent in 2012, followed by the Spanish regions of Ceuta (70.6%) and Canarias (62.6%).

At the opposite end of the scale were the German regions of upper Bavaria (4.2%), Tuebingen (4.5%) and Freiburg (4.8%).

The average youth unemployment rate among all 27 EU countries stood at 22.9 percent in 2012 and over a fifth of these 15-24 year olds were out of a job for over a year, Eurostat said.

“Europe’s actions in fighting youth unemployment will decide about the legitimacy of the European project,” German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a press conference in Berlin.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via EUobserver.com / Regions & Cities / Germany and Greece: huge gulf in youth unemployment.