Max Civili Press TV, Rome The latest study by CGIA, an association of artisans and small businesses, warns that about 166,000 businesses operating in the retail and artisan sectors shut down in Italy in 2014.The study shows that over 130,000 small businesses opened in the same period, translating into a negative balance of more than 34,000 and about 93,000 jobs lost. According to the study by CGIA Association, small businesses and artisan workshops are closing down in big numbers for a series of reasons including a drop in sales, recent tax increases and strong competition from supermarkets and discount stores. However, when a small shop or artisan workshop closes for good, besides the economic damage, there is also a decline in the quality of life in the neighborhood. The CGIA study also denounces that the liberalization process of Italy’s labor market, even though quite slow, has not produced the expected results. The association argues that the changes in methods of production and work organization over the past ten years have not improved Italians’ lives at all. Live @ http://www.presstv.ir/live.html Twitter @ http://twitter.com/PressTV LiveLeak @ http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV Google+ @ http://plus.google.com/+VideosPTV Instagram @ http://instagram.com/presstvchannel
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