Source : http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?fo ... r_id=28427
2. Oktober 2005
Unemployment continues to drop
The drop in unemployment last month was greater than expected. At the end of September 80,500 were registered as unemployed at the National Labour Office.
This is equal to 3.4 per cent of the total labour force.
- At the same time as the unemployment drops, there is an increase in the number of vacancies. This means that the situation on the labour market has improved even further, says Labour Director Yngvar Aasholt.
He points out that this indicates that there is now an increased demand for labour and a certain shortage of qualified workers.
Senior economist of the DnB NOR Markets, Erlend Loedemel, says the unemployment rate is now so low that it is close to the level where one would normally expect a growth in salaries.
Outgoing Labour Minister Dagfinn Hoeybraaten (photo) is pleased with the latest figures.
- It is particularly pleasing that the number of registerered unemployed is dropping in all counties, and that the number of long-term unemployed has been reduced by 20 per cent over the past year, Hoeybraaten says.
(Moss Avis)
Rolleiv Solholm