Euro Area Employment Change

The number of employed persons in the Euro Area rose by 0.3% from the previous quarter to 169.3 million in the three months leading to December 2023, accelerating from the 0.2% increase in the earlier quarter, in line with the preliminary estimates. It marked the eleventh consecutive quarter of growth in employment, extending the period of labor market robustness in the European currency bloc, and adding leeway for the ECB to maintain rates at relatively restrictive levels should inflation remain at stubbornly high levels. Employment rose the most in Romania (1.5%), Malta (1.4%), and Spain (0.8%), while employment dropped in Latvia (-1%), Finland (-0.6%), and Poland (-0.2%). On a yearly basis, employment growth was at 1.2%, down from 1.3% in the third quarter.