In the EU, the employment rate of people aged 20-64 stood at 75.4% in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 0.1 percentage points (pp) compared with the first quarter of 2023. Labor market slack encompassing those with unmet employment needs, a large part of which includes unemployed individuals – amounted to 11.2% of the extended labor force aged 20-64 in the second quarter of 2023 (-0.1 pp compared with the first quarter 2023).
Changes in the employment rate between the first and the second quarter of 2023 varied across the EU countries. The highest increases were recorded in Slovenia (+1.3 pp), Portugal (+1.1 pp) and Latvia (+1.0 pp).
While employment rose in 20 EU countries, it remained stable in Estonia and decreased in 6 EU countries, with the biggest decreases recorded in Bulgaria (-0.8 pp), Belgium (-0.7 pp) and Romania (-0.6 pp).