OREANDA-NEWS. The number of persons employed increased by 0.3% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.1% in the EU28 in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the third quarter of 2015, employment increased by 0.3% in both zones. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1,0% in the EU28 in the fourth quarter of 2015 (after +1.1% and +1.0% respectively in the third quarter of 2015).
Eurostat estimates that, in the fourth quarter of 2015, 229.9 million men and women were employed in the EU28, of which 151.9 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, Malta (+1.7%) and Croatia (+0.8%) recorded the highest increases in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, followed by Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Sweden (all +0.7%). Estonia (-2.4%), the United Kingdom (-1.0%) and Lithuania (-0.3%) recorded decreases.