The labour market in Estonia is volatile, increasing the risk that groups with some obstacles to enter the labour market (youth, non-Estonian speakers and workers with no upper secondary graduation certificate) may become long-term unemployed, due to the aggravating skills mismatch in the wake...

In Slovakia, educational outcomes are below the OECD average and are too dependent on the socioeconomic background of students. Unemployment is high and the school-to-job transition process does not work well. Spending on education and active labour market policies are very low by international...

The labour market in Russia is very flexible. Firms adjust to economic shocks through wage cuts, working hour reductions and minimisation of non-wage labour costs. Workers react by changing jobs. This results in a high and stable overall employment rate, but also high wage inequality,...

During the first decade of the currency union, business cycle fluctuations among Euro Area countries were relatively synchronised and similar in magnitude. This concordance disappeared during the 2008 financial turmoil and the following European sovereign debt crisis, a time when key flaws in...

This paper aims at investigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the automotive sector in Central and Eastern Europe. It details the effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures on the activity in the sector. It also discusses the prospects for car sales in the short to medium...

Switzerland has a well-functioning labour market with low unemployment, a highly skilled workforce and well-paid jobs. It has proved resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, helped by extensive government support to employment and incomes. As activity recovers, the authorities face the challenge of...

This paper considers the increase in current account imbalances in euro area countries since the early 1990s. While the euro area as a whole has remained relatively close to external balance, the current account balances of individual countries have diverged: Spain, Greece and Portugal ran large...