After encouraging signs that the unemployment rate had stabilised, and even fallen in some regions, the latest figures from Statistics Denmark show that things are still heading in the wrong direction.
3,000 more joined the jobless queue in February, meaning that 6.2 per cent of the labour force, or 164,200 people, are now officially unemployed. The North Jutland region experienced the biggest increase, from 6.1 to 6.4 per cent, while unemployment in the greater Copenhagen region remained stable, albeit still high, at 7.6 per cent. At the same time, the figures from January have been upwardly adjusted to 161,200, compared to the previously registered 160,000 that created widespread optimism amongst economists.
Minister of Employment Mette Frederiksen said the figures show how the crisis clouds are still hovering over the economy. "We've introduced a number of initiatives that should have a positive influence on unemployment but, as these figures show, Europe still isn't out of the woods."
She vowed that the government's kick-start would soon have a positive effect in the private sector and construction industry, while the new energy bill, with provisions for two new off-shore windmill farms in the Baltic and North Sea, would also create new jobs.
A spokesman for the Economic Council of the Labour Movement called the new figures a 'blow' because negative key indicators could negatively effect consumer confidence, which has shown positive signs in recent weeks.