(By Sandra Cordon).
Some 275,000 people were signed to
permanent contracts in January and February, thanks to the 2015
budget's new contributions breaks, the foundation of labour
consultants said Monday.
Rosario De Luca, head of the organization, said that in 80%
of those cases, temporary contracts were turned into permanent
positions while the reminder were likely new jobs.
Earlier, the head of pensions and social-security agency
INPS said that 76,000 Italian companies applied for the break on
some social payments in just 20 days.
Tito Boeri said that those requests reqistered between
February 1 and February 20 were likely only the beginning, as
many more requests probably came in after that.
The program gives employers a three-year break on making
social-security contributions for workers hired on new
permanent, open-ended contracts.
"The first data are encouraging," said Boeri.
Premier Matteo Renzi's 2015 budget measures are part of a
wider program of structural reforms aimed at boosting economic
growth and encouraging job creation.
The Italian economy has been stagnant since at least 2011
and even as a recovery is expected to begin this year, estimates
are for GDP growth of about 0.5%, rising to just over 1% in
2016.
At the same time, unemployment in Italy averaged 12.6% in
January, the latest available figures, and among young people
came in at 41.2%.
Italian unemployment in 2014 rose to a record yearly high
of 12.7%, up from 12.1% in 2013 and the highest rate since 1977,
Istat national statistics bureau reported earlier this month.
High unemployment is devastating for an economy as it
undermines consumer confidence which is key to domestic demand
for everything from food and clothes to home-buying.
Reforming Italy's employment market, including laws
governing hiring and firing, has been one of the highest
priorities for the Renzi government.
Earlier this year, the government passed its
controversial Jobs Act labour market reforms which have been
widely praised by European leaders as extremely important to
encouraging hiring and growth.
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