Long shadows from the financial crisis

  • Morten Hansen
  • 26.08.2015
Foto: Lauris Aizupietis, F64

Foto: Lauris Aizupietis, F64.

The recession following the financial crisis here in Latvia ended five years ago and since then the unemployment rate has also come down substantially: From a high of 21.3% among the 15-74 year old in the first quarter of 2010 it has now dropped below 10% for the first time since the third quarter of 2008. I was about to call this a normalization of the unemployment rate but it is not - of the 54 quarters from Q1 2002 (starting point for the unemployment rate at the Central Statistical Bureau's web site), unemployment has only been below 10% on 14 occasions: Q3 2005 - Q3 2008 and then now, Q2 2015.

In a way not bad (but not good either - a country where 9.8% unemployment can be considered low has a serious problem) but it is certainly not everything that has made a comeback since the financial crisis.