Employment in the EU and the eurozone reach record levels in the second quarter - La Provincia

Theweakening of the growth rate of the eurozone economyand of the European Union as a whole during the second quarter, when the GDP expansion moderated to 0.2% in both cases from 0.4% and 0.5% respectively, it was reflected in a smaller increase in employment in both regions, although both the euro zone and the Twenty-eight reached both historical maximums in the number of employed persons.

According to the definitive data published this Friday by Eurostat,employment grew 0.2% in the second quarter in the euro zone,two tenths less than in the immediately previous period. On the other hand, the increase with respect to the same quarter of 2018 was 1.2%, compared to 1.4% in the first quarter.

With regard to the EU as a whole,employment among the Twenty-eight maintained a quarterly growth of 0.3%,while the year-on-year progress slowed down to 1%, two tenths less than the data observed between January and March.

However, the number of employees in the euro zone between April and June reached a new record of 160 million, representing an increase of 398,000 workers compared to the first quarter and 1.9 million in a year.

In the case of the EU,the number of employees also reached a new high in the second quarter, up to 241.41 million, with an increase of 667,000 employed in the quarter and 3.34 million in one year.