City economy

One of supermarket in Riga	Latvian money lats (LVL)

      Source: PATRICIA LTD 

Riga has achieved considerable success in consolidating reforms and improving the general economic environment. At the same time the rapid decrease of the industrial production and the structural changes in the national economy in early 1990s in Riga , as well as Latvia in the whole, created a quite serious tension at the labour market. The numbers of people having lost their jobs or not able to find such grew. The official unemployment rate on January 1, 2002 was 3.6 % of the active work force. However, the real unemployment, which includes the hidden unemployment, could be much higher in Riga .

At the current situation, when the competition at the labor market increasingly grows, a range of problems arise: employment is not always durable and guaranteed, it is of a fragmentary nature quite often, regulations of sanitary, safety and technical supervision of dangerous equipment are violated by many employers etc. The working environment and its microclimate are harmful to human health quite often.

Land reform is almost finished in Riga as one of the most difficult processes in the reorganization of land ownership towards market economy. Various enterprises are being privatized. Contest of interests arise in the course of privatization of entities, creation of land market, economical considerations often-prevailing environmental protection. Reconstruction of old buildings for diverse institutional and commercial needs is also promoting economical activities in the City. Arranging of urban infrastructure is paid particular attention last years, as playing a key role in the economical development.

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