The FINANCIAL — The job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA19) was 2.1% in the first quarter of 2018, up from 2.0% recorded in the previous quarter and from 1.9% in the first quarter of 2017, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the EU28, the job vacancy rate was 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018, up from 2.0% recorded in the previous quarter and from 1.9% in the first quarter of 2017.
In the euro area, the job vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2018 was 1.9% in industry and construction, and 2.4% in services. In the EU28, the rate was 2.0% in industry and construction, and 2.4% in services.
Member States
Among the Member States for which comparable data are available (see country notes), the highest job vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2018 were recorded in the Czech Republic (4.8%), Belgium (3.5%), Germany and Sweden (both 2.9%), the Netherlands and Austria (both 2.8%). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.7%), Spain and Portugal (both 0.9%), Bulgaria and Ireland (both 1.0%). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2018 rose in sixteen Member States, remained stable in Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal and
Finland, but fell in Greece (-0.3 percentage points – pp), Estonia (-0.2 pp), Malta and Romania (both -0.1 pp). The largest increases were registered in the Czech Republic (+1.7 pp), Austria (+0.6 pp), Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands and Slovenia (all +0.5 pp).
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