The paper examines the recent labour market developments which have occurred in Estonia during the period of economic transition, with specific focus on unemployment. Data for the analysis are drawn from the 1995 labour force survey, which applying the retrospective design, provided detailed work histories for 9,608 individuals. Separate consideration is given to the trends in registered unemployment and internationally comparable estimates, duration of unemployment and labour market flows, differentials among subpopulations, development of policy schemes and welfare implications. In addition to standard measures of unemployment, the paper provides complementary estimates of labour market slack, discouragement and visible underemployment. According to the data, Estonia seems to have passed the period of initial labour market adjustment and the emphasis is now gradually shifting to more developmental tasks.
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