It is truly one of the most fascinating and beautiful continents in the whole wide world. People, regardless of caste, color, creed, come from all over to soak in the sun-kissed, tropical, far-reaching beauty of Europe.
The continent, with an almost endless string of medieval castles, a captivating history, and a truly intoxicating melange of custom, culinary tastes, and tradition has boundless stories to tell.
And regardless of where and how you traverse, whether from anywhere in Scandinavia in the North to the West in Germany or go from Portugal to the Finnish Lapland, the fun and excitement never recede in Europe.
But if one were to witness this awe-inspiring piece of geography from a discerning and somewhat quizzical eye, then it would occur that not all’s well in the great continent.
Among the biggest concerns staring it in the eye is that of the question of unemployment in Europe. The numbers from this year point to a rather upsetting fact: unemployment rates in the European Union and Eurozone have plunged to their lowest ebb, ever.
What’s also been found is that the more the trade war between the United States and China accelerates, the more there seems to be a slowdown or slump in the inflation rates and growth.
The key statistical office of the European Union, the Eurostat happens to have revealed that the current unemployment rates in all of the continent are the lowest since its operations began in 2000.
Where it stands at the moment, then the Eurozone- comprising of 19 member states of the EU monetary union- has dropped further down to 7.5 percent.
What may be worrying is that across the bloc, there seems to be a sluggish economic growth. This is a severity hitherto unseen since the infamous slowdown of 2008.
In fact, if one were to mainly deconstruct the US-China trade war, then one would find that the ramifications of a burgeoning crisis are also impacting the world economy, the trade clash having sent financial shockwaves throughout the global economy.
What wasn’t encouraging, in particular, was that only days back did the venerable International Monetary Fund (or the IMF) downgraded its outlook, stating that factors such as the US tariffs on European cars, a no-deal Brexit, and the persisting trade war with China would only happen to tank the global economy.
So how does the enigmatic continent climb out of the mess it currently finds itself in? What it would be well-advised to look out for is to find immediate means to counter a problem that doesn’t seem to be leaving its shores, anytime soon, that of unemployment in Europe.