Unemployment Rises as Tens of Thousands of Refugees Struggle to Find Work

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

Austria, Central Europe, is discovering yet another gift of mass migration – mass unemployment, as official figures show joblessness has increased by six per cent in just one year.

Latest figures from the Austrian social affairs ministry show that September 2014 – September 2015, the number of official workless had risen by 0.7 per cent of the population to 8.3 per cent of all living in the country. The increase, which is an increase of 6.1 per cent on last year’s figure, puts the total jobless at 391,000.

TheLocal.at reports older citizens and foreigners are those most represented in the rise, with more than 19,000 registered refugees seeking work. Government figures show the demographics of the new job seekers in Austria resembles strongly the mix of new arrivals – the largest groups of unemployed are Syrians and Afghans, while three quarters are male.

Latest figures from the European Union on asylum applications to Austria show the scale of new arrivals to the country over the same time period as the government unemployment figures.

The data for second quarter 2014 to second quarter 2015 reveal Austria to have the second highest rate of asylum applications per capita in Europe after Hungary. Remarkably, the rate at which Austria receives asylum applications in proportion to population is some 17 times higher than the United Kingdom.

Internal government documents leaked this week estimate Austria will receive 85,000 migrants and refugees in 2015 and 130,000 in 2016. If these figures prove to be correct, by the end of 2016 1 in 40 of all people living in Austria will have arrived in just the preceding 24 months.

It is not just the unemployment figures that mass open borders are impacting upon in Austria. It was revealed earlier this week that desperation at the lack of control Austria had over the situation could precipitate a collapse of the coalition government, as the conservative People’s Party threatened to pull out.

Party leader and deputy chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner said if the government wasn’t able to get a grip and show “the willing and ability to govern” there would likely be national elections much sooner than planned.

Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.com

 

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