Those who were employed in the first quarter of 2023 accounted for 75.3% of the working-age population (aged 20-64) in the European Union, which represents an increase of 0.5% year on year, according to the latest Eurostat data released on 16 June.
Bulgaria registered the highest increase in employment in the EU at 2.8%, followed by Croatia with 2% increase and Cyprus with 1.1%.
While employment rose in 19 EU countries, it remained stable in Latvia and Finland and decreased in 5 EU countries, with the biggest decreases recorded in Slovenia (1.6%), Lithuania (1%) and Malta (0.3%).
Labour market slack – encompassing those with unmet employment needs, a large part of which includes unemployed individuals – amounted to 11.3% of the extended labour force aged 20-64 in the first quarter of 2023, down by 0.1% from the forth quarter of 2022.