Danish News in Brief: Record high employment in May

Elsewhere, Danish banks fined by the EU, European football draws are made and the Stanley Cup is coming to Copenhagen

Jul 24, 2018

According to new figures from the national statistics keepers Danmarks Statistik, a record number of Danes were in work in May.

The data showed that there were 2,743,400 people in employment, the highest number ever measured in Denmark – and that trend is expected to continue.

“The future prospects for the Danish labour market are rather bright,” Søren Kristensen, an economist from Sydbank, said according to TV2 News.

“In the coming years, the labour market has benefited from earlier reforms that have sent more Danes into work. So we are optimistic.”

Trade turmoil
Kristensen said that the principle challenges in the future would be companies being able to attract the labour they require.

Another is the ongoing trade conflict going on between the EU and the US. Should the situation continue to fester, employment could be impacted in Denmark, where 40 percent of employment increase since 2013 is directly linked to export.

According to the confederation of Danish industry, Dansk Industri (DI) – employment in Denmark will surpass 3 million next year.

Banks fined by EU
Five banks, including Danske Bank and Nordea, have been fined 3.7 million kroner by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), an EU financial regulatory institution. Danske Bank has been fined for issuing credit ratings without being authorised to do so. The breech took place between June 2011 and August 2016. The banks can appeal the decision, but Danske Bank deputy head Peter Rostrup-Nielsen stated that the bank has decided to accept the fine and apologised for the mistake.

Songs healthy for kids
New Danish research involving 14,000 respondents has shown that songs before bedtime are a boon for the health of children. The research, produced by the University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University, showed that song and music at home has a significant impact on how we develop an active relationship to music later in life – one that makes us feel healthier, according to other research. 40 percent of women and 27 percent of men responded that there is often, or very often, music being played or songs sung in their home as kids. The good effects begin early on when the child is only six months old. The findings have been published in the scientific journal, Nordic Journal of Music Therapy.

Decent draws in Europe
A total of four Danish teams were in the pot yesterday as the European football governing body UEFA drew the qualification rounds of the Champions League and Europa League yesterday. Should reining champs FC Midtjylland defeat Astana in the Champions League second round qualifiers, they will run into Croatian stalwarts Dinamo Zagreb in the third round. In the Europa League qualification, FC Copenhagen Stjarnan will meet either CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria or Admira Wacker of Austria in the third round, providing they defeat Icelandic outfit Stjarnan beforehand. Can Swedish team AIK be beaten in the second round, FC Nordsjælland will face wither Partizan Belgrade of Serbia or Trakai of Lithuania in the next round. Brøndby will take on either Czech giants Sparta Prague or Spartak Subotica of Serbia. The third round of Europa League qualification fixtures will take place on August 9 and 16.

Stanley Cup in Copenhagen
The holy grail of ice hockey will come to Copenhagen next month as Denmark’s first ever Stanley Cup winner, Lars Eller, brings the coveted silverware home to Rødovre to show off. Eller, who recently triumphed in the NHL playoffs with the Washington Capitals, will be hailed on August 8 at the municipal square in Rødovre at 14:00 before moving at 15:00 to Rødovre Skating Arena, where Eller started out playing ice hockey as a youngster. Check out the event on Facebook here.