According to the report from Eurostat, the number of persons employed increased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2019, employment increased by 0.2% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU27.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.1% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2019 (after +1.1% and +0.9% respectively in the third quarter of 2019).

For the year 2019 as a whole, employment grew by 1.2% in the euro area and 1.0% in the EU27, after +1.5% and +1.4% respectively in 2018.

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2019, 209.3 million people were employed in the EU27, of which 160.7 million were in the euro area. These are the highest levels of employment ever recorded in both areas. More specifically, the number of persons employed has increased by 12.0 million in the euro area and 15.1 million in the EU27 since the lowest level of employment after the financial crisis (2013 Q2 for euro area, 2013 Q1 for EU27).