The unemployment rate, which reached only 4.0% in 2000, increased sharply reaching
9.6% in 2009. The importance of long-term (and very long-term) unemployment in
total employment has also increased, between 1.8% in 2002 and 4.3% in 2009. The desegregation
of the long-term unemployment rates shows that there are a high percentage
of people with low levels of education, who face particularly high risks of poverty
and social exclusion.