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Eurozone employment up 0.4 pct in Q2

Xinhua, September 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of persons employed increased by 0.4 percent in 19-country Eurozone in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the previous quarter, reaching the highest level in seven and a half years, official data showed on Tuesday.

In the wider European Union (EU), the employment also saw a quarterly increase of 0.3 percent, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.

A total of 153.3 million people in the single currency bloc were employed from April to June, and the number reached the highest level ever recorded in the EU of 232.1 million, Eurostat said in a press release.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.4 percent in euro area and by 1.5 percent in the EU, Eurostat said.

Among EU members, there was a notable improvement in Estonia, where the employment rose by 1.7 percent, compared with the previous quarter. Ireland and Lithuania followed, rose by 1.1 percent and 1.0 percent respectively.

A decrease was only observed in Croatia, down by 0.4 percent.

"Overall, employment growth of 1.4 percent is strong in a Eurozone context, but we think growth will slow in coming quarters," said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The GDP growth has slowed in recent quarters, mainly as a result of an upward revision to the 2015 data, which also implies a decline in employment growth," he added. Endit