Small signs of hope are emerging as new figures show the ranks of Europe’s working population increased by 0.2% in the euro area2 (EA18) and by 0.3% in the EU282 in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the first quarter of 2014, employment rose by 0.1% in the euro area and 0.2% in the EU28. These figures are seasonally adjusted.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment grew by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2014 (after +0.1% and +0.6% respectively in the first quarter of 2014).
Eurostat estimates that, in the second quarter of 2014, 224.9 million men and women were employed in the EU28, of which 146.5 million were in the euro area. These figures are seasonally adjusted.
These quarterly data on employment provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.
Employment growth in Member States
Among Member States for which data are available, Estonia (+1.2%), Portugal (+0.9%) and Spain (+0.7%), recorded the highest increases in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter, while Lithuania (-1.0%) and Cyprus (-0.1%) registered decreases.
Member States’ growth rates for employment in the second quarter of 2014
% change over the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted
Croatia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovenia: data not available.
