In 2015, the employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 in the European Union (EU) stood at 70.1%, up compared with 2014 (69.2%) although still remaining slightly below its 2008 peak (70.3%).
A similar pattern can be observed for men: their employment rate hit 75.9% in 2015, an increase compared with 2014 (75.0%) but still below its 2008 level (77.8%). As for women, their employment rate has continuously risen since 2010 to reach 64.3% in 2015, above previous peaks of 63.5% in 2014 and 62.8% in 2008.
The Europe 2020 strategy target is to reach a total employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 of at least 75% in the EU by 2020. This objective has been translated into national targets in order to reflect the situation and possibilities of each Member State to contribute to the common goal.
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, commented: “I am pleased to see that the overall 2015 EU employment rate confirms that Europe is finally leaving the crisis behind. However, we have not yet reached our Europe 2020 target of a 75% employment rate. In the coming years, we will need to continue our efforts to get more people into jobs, including the most vulnerable groups of our society. Part of our upcoming New Skills Agenda will therefore focus on providing low qualified people with the necessary skills to help them integrate into the labour market.”
A full EUROSTAT press release is available online.
