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The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending in May 2007, which includes the First Implementation Report of 2006 on the Austrian Reform Programme for Growth and Employment and its replies to the 2005 direct request.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and active labour market measures. The Committee notes with interest that employment in Austria has again reached new heights and that a recovery of the labour market is likely to continue due to the stable growth rate of the economy. While the Government’s general aim is to reach full employment, by 2006 the overall employment rate stood at 70.2 per cent, thus above the EU quantitative goal of 70 per cent. The employment rate for women has again increased and stood by 63.5 per cent, thus 3.5 percentage points above the EU quantitative goal. The Committee further notes that as compared to 2005, the aggregate unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points and stood at 4.9 per cent (EU average: 8.7 per cent). In 2005, the unemployment rate for women stood at 5.5 per cent, thus below the EU average of 9.8 per cent. While youth unemployment fell by 11.6 percentage points in 2006, the Government report indicates that the main challenge remains to promote employment among older workers. While the unemployment rate of persons above 50 has slightly increased in the 2005 average, it has developed favourably for persons above 60. This is mirrored by the labour force participation rate of those aged 55–64 which in 2006 stood at 35.5 per cent as compared to 31.8 per cent in 2005 and 30.4 per cent in 2003. The effect of the cumulated employment development is estimated to have increased the number of positions created between 2002 and 2006 by 63,000.

2. The Government’s report describes its active labour market measures to cater for the increased dynamic and structural changes of the labour market and to accommodate the reform of the EU strategy. Besides the continuation of the measures mentioned in its 2005 report, the Government has increased its emphasis on the “Early Intervention Strategy” for young and older unemployed persons, its work against gender-based segmentation of the labour market and on specific educational programmes for employed persons, i.e. lifelong guidance and learning aid. These measures were accompanied by a politico-economic programme, including an economic recovery programme, a tax reform and a further increase of governmental spending for employment policy measures, which has more than doubled since 1999. The Committee asks the Government to continue to report on the manner in which measures adopted under the general economic policy contribute to pursuing the objective of full and productive employment, in particular in favour of older workers who wish to work and disadvantaged young people. It would also appreciate continuing to receive information and data on successes, problems encountered and lessons learnt from the experience of social partners in Austria with regard to the application of the provisions of the Convention.