At the same time, however, it also gradually accumulated economic and financial imbalances, such as loose fiscal spending and a bubble in the real estate market.
However, some European countries, particularly those with more flexible labour markets, have managed to avoid the trend of everrising unemployment. For example, the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Austria and Luxembourg at present have unemployment rates well below the euro area average. If one examines the duration of unemployment, it is immediately apparent that Europe’s problem is principally one of long-term unemployment.