Jensen: New job figures show improvement

Finance Minister Siv JensenFinance Minister Siv Jensen.Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB scanpix

Almost no jobs have been created in the private sector, according to Labor. Finance Minister Siv Jensen denies the allegation and claims that 80,000 new jobs have been created since 2013.

– Labor continues its negative coverage of developments in the Norwegian economy, said the Finance Minister during a parliamentary question time on Wednesday.
Based on what she described as “totally new figures” from Statistics Norway she stated that overall employment has increased by over 30,000 from 2013 to 2016.
Meanwhile, employment fell by 50,000 in petroleum-related industries over the same period.
This means that in total 80,000 new jobs have been created that are not related to oil, since the government took office, according to Jensen.
– Employment in the public sector has increased by more than 20,000 people during the same period. This suggests that most of the increase has come in the private sector, she maintains.
Aps fiscal spokesperson Marianne Marthinsen said it would be gratifying if new figures suggest the creation of more jobs in the private sector, but she prefaced his question by pointing out that unemployment has risen by about 40 percent since 2013 and that unemployment is higher in Norway than in Germany and the USA.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today