The labour market slack, which comprises all people who have an unmet need for employment and of which one of the main components is unemployment, amounted to 11.5 per cent of the extended labour force aged 20-64 in Q2 2022, down from 11.9 per cent in Q1 (minus 0.4 pp).

The employment rate of people aged 20-64 in In the European Union (EU) stood at 74.8 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) this year—a rise of 0.3 percentage points (pp) compared with the first, according to Eurostat. The highest increases in employment rate were recorded in Lithuania (1.6 pp), Latvia (0.9 pp) as well as Ireland and Slovakia (both 0.8 pp).

While employment rose in 20 EU member states, it remained stable in two (Hungary and Slovenia) and decreased in Croatia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Portugal, Eurostat said in a release.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)