Estonia helpless against unemployment

In the past few years unemployment has risen considerably in Estonia as a result of the financial crisis. The countermeasures of the government have so far been ineffectual, the daily Eesti Päevaleht complains: "In spring 2009 the [conservative party] IRL spread the word in TV ads that jobs would come as soon as the state finances were tidied up and the budget balanced once more. The ads were becoming unbearable. Then the budget deficit decreased but unemployment went up. At the end of April there were 61,000 unemployed, now it's 5,000 more. A myth has been dispelled: a balanced budget doesn't help in the fight against unemployment. ... Then they told us that the introduction of the euro would bring investments and create jobs. Three months ago, when the euro arrived, there were 66,118 jobless - at the end of March there were a couple of dozen more. The expected impact has therefore not been strong enough to reduce unemployment."

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