Labour market slack—encompassing those with unmet employment needs, a large part of which includes unemployed individuals—amounted to 11.2 per cent of the extended labour force aged 20-64 in Q1 2024—stable compared with Q4 2023, an Eurostat release said.

Between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, the employment rate varied across EU countries. Croatia (plus 1.8 pp), Slovenia (plus 1.3 pp) and Bulgaria and Greece (both plus 0.9 pp) registered the highest increases among the 15 EU countries where employment rose.

The employment rate remained stable in Italy and Latvia and decreased in 10 EU countries, with the biggest decreases recorded in Cyprus, Estonia and Lithuania (all minus 0.5 pp).

Between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, 3.4 million unemployed people aged 15-74 in the EU (25.5 per cent of all unemployed in Q4 2023) found a job. During this period, 6.8 million (51.3 per cent) remained unemployed and 3.1 million unemployed people (23.3 per cent) transitioned out of the labour force.

Of all those in employment in Q4 2023, 2.5 million (1.2 per cent) became unemployed in Q1 2024, and 4.5 million (2.2 per cent) transitioned out of the labour force.

From those counted as out of the labour force in Q4 2023, 4.8 million (4.1 per cent) moved into employment in Q1 2024 and 4.1 million (3.5 per cent) transitioned into unemployment.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)