The geography of unemployment: the case of Denmark

The geography of unemployment or non-occupied populations shows in Denmark the same pattern as elsewhere in capitalist Europe: total unemployment rates are weaker in the capital region; since the early 1970's, unemployment has increased more in core regions than in outlying areas; female and youth unemployment rates are particularly high in peripherical regions; male unemployment rates are relatively higher in core regions. Danish data allow a precise geographical analysis of segmentations on the labour market, considering both supply and demand. So, S. Illeris studies, for the whole of Denmark, unemployment among young women with a clerical or sales education, among both sexes people with academic education and, inside the Copenhagen area only, among unskilled, middle-aged men. There is no simple pattern for those three labour markets. This conception of the geography of unemployment fits well into those general models which believe that there is no one simple explanation of unemployment in advanced capitalist countries.