According to the report from Eurostat, the number of persons employed decreased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the previous quarter. This is the first decline in the time series since the second quarter of 2013 for the euro area and the first quarter of 2013 for the EU. In the fourth quarter of 2019, employment increased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU in the first quarter of 2020 (after +1.1% and +1.0% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2019).

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the first quarter of 2020, 209.1 million people were employed in the EU, of which 160.4 million were in the euro area. In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, employment in persons decreased by 0.3 million in the euro area and by 0.2 million in the EU compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.

While the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment in persons was mitigated by government support schemes, the impact on hours worked is generally much more pronounced. The number of hours worked decreased by 3.1% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the previous quarter.