In the third quarter of 2013, employment remained stable in the euro area and increased by 0.1% in the EU. These figures are seasonally adjusted.
Compared with the same quarter of 2012, employment fell by 0.5% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2013 (after -0.8% and -0.3% respectively in the third quarter of 2013), while in Lithuania it increased by 2.3%.
Over the whole year 2013, employment decreased by 0.9% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU, compared with -0.7% and -0.2% respectively in 2012.
Eurostat estimates that, in the fourth quarter of 2013, 223.6 million men and women were employed in the EU, of which 145.0 million were in the euro area. These figures are seasonally adjusted. Among Member States for which data are available, Lithuania (+1.0%), Ireland and Portugal (both +0.7%) recorded the highest increases in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with the previous quarter, and Estonia (-1.3%), Latvia (-1.1%) and Cyprus (-0.6%) the largest decreases.
