Employment up, labour market slack down in Q3 2021

In the EU, the employment rate of people aged 20-64 stood at 73.5% in the third quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 0.7 percentage points (pp) compared with the second quarter of 2021.

Key facts:

• Labour market slack (= all people with an unmet need for employment, unemployment is main ain component) amounted to 12.9% of the extended labour force aged 20-64 in the third quarter of 2021, down from 13.7% in the second quarter 2021 (-0.8 pp).
• Highest increases compared to 2nd quarter 2021: Greece (+1.8 pp), Cyprus (+1.6 pp), Ireland (+1.5 pp), Lithuania and Austria (both +1.1 pp).
• Employment rose in 24 EU Member States
• Remained stable in Bulgaria and Croatia
• Decreased in Finland (-0.2 pp)

Source: Eurostat