Europeans believe employment most affected by crisis: survey

A majority of Europeans believe that despite signs of recovery the worst of the crisis has yet to come and employment is the most endangered area, a Eurobarometer survey showed on Monday.

Compared with May-June 2009, 54 percent of Europeans believe that the economic crisis has yet to affect the labor markets while38 percent think that it has already reached its peak.

Europeans are cautious in assessing the impact the crisis may still have as economies have been struck by unemployment since the spring and time still is needed for jobs to be created.

"Even though the euro zone exited recession in the third quarter and activity is continuing to improve in the fourth quarter, growth is unlikely to be strong enough to generate net jobs for some considerable time," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight in London.

For 51 percent of Europeans, unemployment is the most important issue in their country at the moment. Forty percent think the second most important issue is the economic situation, while 19 percent deem the inflation to be the third most important issue together with crime.

Vice President of the European Commission, Margot Wallstrom, called the EU for continuous actions, saying that "citizens have clearly identified jobs as their main concern, and the EU must continue to give its full attention and commitment to dealing with the crisis."

The "Standard Eurobarometer" survey, which takes place twice a year in Spring and in Autumn, was conducted through face-to-face interviews by TNS Opinion & Social. A total of 30,238 people were interviewed between Oct. 23 and Nov. 18, 2009.

Source: Xinhua