The Spring Quarterly Review of Employment and Social Situation in the EU published today confirms the steady increase in activity rates, i.e. the share of working-age people (15-64) who are either working or actively looking for a job. Despite the crisis, these activity rates have been growing for the EU as a whole since 2008; the activity rate has increased for those aged 60 and is now even approaching the one of the overall working age population for those aged 55-59. Nevertheless, activity rates – and their trends – vary considerably across Member States from less than 65% in Italy to more than 80% in Sweden.
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Marianne Thyssen commented: “The increase in activity rates, notably of older age groups, is an encouraging sign in view of the ageing of European population. But we need to ensure that this growing number of people who are willing to work are well integrated into our labour markets. Skills are key to this. The new Skills Agenda for Europe that we will present in the coming weeks should make a major contribution to transforming higher activity rates into more high-quality jobs.”
The EU-wide employment rate has just returned to its pre-crisis level, but shows much wider disparities across countries, ranging from 55% in Greece to 80% in Estonia, Germany and Sweden. Unemployment continues to recede as there are now 4.9 million less unemployed people than during the April 2013 peak. The Quarterly Review also shows that permanent and full-time jobs continue to increase, albeit at a slower pace than in 2014.
