in 2004 and more than 2 p.c. next year. This is however not a reason to be satisfied and complacent. In the EU or in the eurozone we speak of a recovery when growth is approaching 2 p.c. while in the US they speak of a recession when growth is falling to 2 p.c. !
But research to date suggests that such “house lock” has probably not had more than a small effect on structural unemployment thus far.7 As noted earlier, migration rates have been falling for some time. But the declines during the recession have not been larger for homeowners than for renters.