Russian Unemployment is Soaring, Retail Sales are Plummeting

The Kremlin has admitted Russia will have at least an 8% economic contraction this year, four times worse than it predicted at the beginning of the year. The rising ruble, tied to the price of oil threatens to wreck Russia’s domestic industry. The results are disastrous. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Russian unemployment has reached its highest level this decade as thrift replaces a culture of consumer spending, official data released Friday showed. The number of unemployed in Russia rose to 7.7 million in April, or 10.2% of the total labor force of 75.2 million, data from the Federal Statistics Service, or Rosstat, showed. Around 3 million workers have lost their jobs since late summer. Russia’s economy has been dragged down by lower oil prices and decreased access to short-term capital.

{Click the link to read the details, showing that the Russian economy is on the cusp of another major downturn}

Russia’s Employment Crisis

Unemployment in Russia is soaring, and the level is 16% higher in the first 11 months of this year than it was last year.  As many as 5 million people in Russia may presently be jobless, with 800,000 having lost their work in November alone. The Associated Press reports the horrifying details:

Cowed by what she called a growing campaign of intimidation, equity analyst Yekaterina Krylova finally quit her job. In submitting her “voluntary” resignation, she waived her right to any compensation — and that saved her employer a hefty payout.

As the Russian economy hurtles toward its toughest period in a decade, many companies are resorting to desperate and some say underhanded measures as they rush to cut staff and save money. And as the outcry over worker mistreatment rises, the government is under mounting pressure to show that it is listening.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will host a televised phone-in show Thursday, and many of the questions already pouring in to the program have focused on Russia’s worsening economic situation.

Russians want to know how the government will force employers to abide by the country’s Labor Code, whether it will help the newly unemployed make their mortgage payments and what kind of support graduates can expect as they seek their first job.

Russia is heading for a serious slowdown in economic growth and companies across a range of sectors have announced job cuts as they hunker down to conserve cash.

Exploding Unemployment in Putin’s Russia

The Moscow Times reports that unemployment is spiraling out of control in Russia.  Employers are planning to slash 200,000 jobs in the next two months alone. Read it and weep, Mr. Putin:

The country’s unemployment rate rose to a seven-month high, and retail sales grew at their weakest annual pace in more than two years in October, with analysts saying that Friday’s data was a harbinger of much worse to come. Russian companies have started cutting production, jobs and salaries as the global slowdown crimps demand, falling energy and commodity prices eat into profits in the economy’s dominant sectors and the credit crunch makes it virtually impossible to attract funding from abroad.

“October is the first month when we see the hit of the crisis. … It is the very tip of the iceberg,” said Elina Rybakova, chief Russia economist at Citibank. “It will get much worse from here.”

Unemployment on the Rise in Putin’s Russia

The Moscow Times reports that Vladimir Putin’s Russia Russia is, amazing, facing both massive unemployment and staffing shortfulls at one in the same time:

Massive layoffs have not started, but companies and employees are preparing themselves for the possible consequences of the financial crisis and a slowdown in growth across most sectors. The white-collar labor market, which only a month ago faced a strong undersupply of qualified staff, making it possible for candidates to demand high salaries and compensation packages, is now turning in the other direction. As most Russian companies stop gearing for continuing growth, fewer new jobs are available, and existing jobs are becoming more valuable. “Now it’s a more favorable market for employers, and the companies that will receive the most benefits will be the Russian companies,” said Tremayne Elson, managing director at Antal, a recruitment agency. “They’ll be able to get a better selection of people, for cheaper.”