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ING: Low unemployment conceals informal employment

Autor: Adelina Mihai

25.04.2011, 23:48 34

One of the reasons why the unemployment rate registered inRomania fell to less than 6% in March, reaching the last twelvemonths' low, might be expansion of informal employment, consideringthe number of salaried employees has gone down by more than 200,000people over the past year.

About 1.68 million Romanians are thought to be informallyemployed, but the Labour Inspection Department is not scaringanyone.

Today, Premier Emil Boc, who took the interim reins of theLabour Ministry, will meet with the representatives of the InteriorAffairs Ministry and with those of the Labour Inspection Departmentto discuss fighting informal employment.

"The low unemployment rate may conceal informal employment. Thisis not out of the question, considering that as the registeredunemployment rate has gone down and the unemployment rate measuredby polls, which also includes informal employment, has gone up.However, I think the decline in unemployment rate is caused by thefact that people no longer register as jobless with the employmentagencies once their benefits expire,' said Nicolae Chideşciuc, INGBank's chief economist.

The state collects about 45.8 billion lei (10.9 billion euros)in social contributions over twelve months, with contributionsamounting to 44% of the gross incomes of employees. Were the 1.68million Romanians that President Traian Băsescu says are informallyemployed legally employed the state would collect about 4.5 billioneuros in social contributions.