Tésits, R. (2007). Spatial differences of the labour market at the time of eastern expansion of the European Union. Modern Geográfia, 2(1), 35–69.
Due to the protracted economic- and financial crisis in the European Union the rate of economic growth significantly decreased. From 1990, there was a gradual decrease in employment as well, together with a fast increase in unemployment. Surpassing the psychological limit of 10 percent, the EU unemployment rate rose to 12% in 1993 from the 9.5% of 1992. Within a period of three years, 5 million jobs disappeared in the European Union. Half of the 18 million unemployed people living in the member states were permanently out of work. In comparison with the USA and Japan, the competitiveness of the Union did not only decrease in the area of employment, but also in the fields of product development, innovation and export market share. The experiences of the member states showed that apart from the economic reasons, the passive, ’wait and see’ type of job market policies and the social protective systems dominated by the various forms of income subsidization also greatly contributed to the development of massive permanent unemployment.