The precipitate fall in the production volumes together with restructuring of the economy in Riga at the beginning of the 90s brought about serious tensions in the labour market. There are more people now who either have lost their work or cannot find work. As a result, many working age inhabitants are looking for jobs, poverty levels are high and social exclusion is widely spread. At the beginning of 2001, the number of economically active inhabitants in Riga was 423.5 thousand, 3.6% of them - unemployed (see Table 9, Figure 23 ). However, labour market research performed by the National Statistics Bureau according to methods of the International Labour Organisation show that unemployment figures are higher in reality.

Under the economic and political reforms, some social problems have become more pronounced. Latvia's social structure has changed due to stratification of residents by income level (see Table 10)

Fiercer competition in the labour market has given rise to more problems - employment is only short-term and offers less guarantees, some employment is temporary, employees might not observe rules and regulations with regard to hygiene in the workplace, safety at work, supervision of dangerous equipment and the like. At times, the working conditions and atmosphere in the workplace are harmful to human health.

In circumstances when the levels of unemployment and poverty are rather high, when labour contracts are often concluded on temporary basis or when people agree to work without any labour contracts at all, employees would like to have stronger requirements for labour security, hygiene and social guarantees and would like to avoid entering into collective agreements with employers.

Due to loopholes in regulations and national supervision and control mechanisms, employers and officials afford to downplay their responsibilities and regard human health and life as inferior to realisation of economic goals.

Research of the labour market shows (see Figure 24 ) that the situation in the market could continue to deteriorate in the near future, which could have an adverse effect on the inhabitants of the city form the point of view of sustainable social development. In this regard, in addition to creating new jobs in the city, it would also be necessary to improve the working environment and see to it that human health and life become priorities in labour relations.

See also:

Figure 25 Unemployed persons by nationality

Figure 26 Unemployed persons by sex and age

Figure 27 Unemployed persons by education qualification

Figure 28 Unemployed persons by occupation