According to provisional national accounts estimates by Eurostat, the seasonally adjusted number of persons employed in the eurozone1 rose by 0.3% (427,000 persons) during the first quarter of 2006. During the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU25 also grew by 0.3% (612,000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2005, growth rates were +0.3% in the euro area and +0.2% in the EU25.
Compared to the first quarter of 2005, employment grew by 0.9% in both the eurozone and the EU25 in the first quarter of 2006, following +0.7% and +0.8% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2006, 138.0 million men and women were employed in the eurozone and 202.9 million in the EU25. These figures are seasonally adjusted.
 |
| Source: Eurostat |
- Euro area: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland.
Methodological information:
Estimates of employment in the European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). National accounts measure employment alongside other variables such as GDP, output, compensation of employees, etc. ESA95 (chapter 11) defines employment in line with International Labour Organisation criteria.
Employment covers employees and the self-employed working in resident production units (i.e. the domestic employment concept). Unless otherwise stated, all employment estimates in this release use persons as the measurement unit. ESA95 acknowledges other possible measures for employment: jobs, full-time equivalents and total hours worked.
The methodology used by Eurostat is the same as for the European quarterly national accounts. The estimate of 2006 Q1 employment growth presented is based on Member States’ data, as available. For the most recent quarter it covers 92% of employment in the eurozone and 86% of employment in the EU25. Please refer to the table to see for which Member States data are available.
More data on European quarterly national accounts are available on Eurostat's website ("Data" / "Economy and finance" / "National Accounts"). Additional general information on European national accounts is also available in the metadata files linked to the tables.
Employment growth rates*
|
Percentage change compared to the previous quarter
|
Percentage change compared to the same quarter of the previous year
|
|
2005
|
2006
|
2005
|
2006
|
|
Q2
|
Q3
|
Q4
|
Q1
|
Q2
|
Q3
|
Q4
|
Q1
|
|
Eurozone
|
0.1
|
0.2
|
0.3
|
0.3
|
0.7
|
0.6
|
0.7
|
0.9
|
|
EU25
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
0.3
|
0.8
|
0.9
|
0.8
|
0.9
|
|
Member States
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Belgium
|
0.2
|
0.1
|
0.3
|
0.2
|
1.0
|
0.9
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
|
Czech Republic
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
0.7
|
0.7
|
0.9
|
0.3
|
|
Denmark
|
0.2
|
0.3
|
0.4
|
1.2
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
1.0
|
2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Germany
|
-0.1
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
-0.1
|
-0.3
|
-0.3
|
-0.3
|
-0.1
|
|
Estonia
|
1.1
|
0.4
|
0.6
|
:
|
2.7
|
2.3
|
2.5
|
:
|
|
Greece
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spain
|
0.6
|
1.3
|
0.9
|
1.1
|
3.5
|
3.7
|
3.7
|
3.7
|
|
France
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
0.2
|
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
|
Ireland
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
5.0
|
4.8
|
4.8
|
:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Italy
|
0.2
|
-0.6
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.3
|
-0.3
|
-0.1
|
0.4
|
|
Cyprus
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
3.5
|
3.6
|
:
|
:
|
|
Latvia
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
0.6
|
1.3
|
2.9
|
3.9
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lithuania
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
2.2
|
2.8
|
2.9
|
:
|
|
Luxembourg
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
2.8
|
2.9
|
2.9
|
:
|
|
Hungary
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
-0.1
|
0.5
|
0.2
|
0.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Malta
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
1.9
|
1.7
|
1.1
|
:
|
|
Netherlands
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
-0.5
|
-0.1
|
0.1
|
1.0
|
|
Austria**
|
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.4
|
0.4
|
0.3
|
1.4
|
1.8
|
1.6
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poland
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
|
Portugal
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
|
Slovenia
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
0.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Slovakia
|
0.1
|
0.6
|
0.7
|
1.3
|
1.3
|
1.0
|
1.8
|
2.4
|
|
Finland
|
0.4
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
0.7
|
1.9
|
0.6
|
0.0
|
1.6
|
|
Sweden
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
:
|
0.0
|
0.4
|
0.9
|
1.1
|
|
United Kingdom
|
0.1
|
0.4
|
-0.2
|
0.4
|
1.0
|
1.3
|
0.6
|
0.8
|
|
EFTA countries
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Norway
|
0.2
|
0.6
|
0.4
|
0.9
|
0.2
|
0.7
|
1.1
|
2.0
|
: Data not available
* Percentage change in the number of persons employed in resident production units compared to the previous quarter based on seasonally adjusted data. Percentage change compared to the same quarter of the previous year based on non-seasonally adjusted data.
