Employment in the Eurozone fell a record 2.7 million in 2009 according to the EU statistics agency, Eurostat. One in three unemployed persons in the EU27 have been jobless for over a year

The number of persons employed in the Eurozone (EA16) fell by 0.2% (347 000 persons) in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published today. In the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 decreased by 0.3% (583 000 persons). In the third quarter of 2009, employment declined by 0.5% in both zones. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Falls in employment were recorded in manufacturing (-1.1% in the Eurozone and -1.0% in the EU27), construction (-0.4% and -0.7% respectively) and trade, transport & communication services (-0.5% in both zones). Financial services & business activities decreased by 0.1% in the Eurozone, but grew by 0.1% in the EU27. Agriculture increased by 0.5% and 0.1% respectively, and other services (which mainly includes public administration, health and education) grew by 0.2% in both zones.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment fell by 2.0% in the Eurozone and by 2.1% in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2009. In the third quarter of 2009, employment decreased by 2.2% and 2.1% respectively.

Eurostat estimates that, in the fourth quarter of 2009, 221.1 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 144.3 million were in the Eurozone. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Over the whole of 2009, employment decreased by 1.8% (2 721 000 persons) in the Eurozone and also by 1.8% (4 021 000 persons) in the EU27, compared with +0.9% and +0.7% respectively in 2008. These quarterly data on employment provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.

There was no fourth quarter data for Ireland. Irish employment in Q3 2009 was 8.7% lower than the same quarter in 2008; Spanish employment in Q4 was down 6.0% on Q4 2008 while Germany with its part-time working scheme was down 0.4% on Q4 2008.

InDecember 2009, the youth unemployment rate (under-25s) was 21.0% in the euro area

Out of all unemployed persons in the EU, 25% are aged between 15 and 24 years, 58% between 25 and 49 years and the remaining 17% are between 50 and 74 years old. The composition is markedly different if we look at the groups of unemployed by current duration of
unemployment. Young people are relatively often unemployed for shorter periods of time. In 2009Q3 around 40% of all those that had been unemployed for less than a month were aged between 15 and 24. For the group that had been unemployed between 1 and 2 months the percentage of young people was around 35%.

These relatively high percentages show that young people are more vulnerable on the short run. Many have temporary contracts, and school leavers find jobs only after searching for several months.

In the EU27, in Q3 2009, Eurostat says one on three unemployed for over a year.

The Eurozone (EA16) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

One in three unemployed persons in the EU have been jobless for over a year

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).