EU Employment Rate Continues to Rise

The employment rate in the EU-25 increased by 0.5 percentage points in the third quarter 2005 compared with the same quarter one year before.

The data, published in this week's Eurostat Stat of the Week, shows that in the third quarter 2005, 64.1 per cent of the working age population (15-64 years of age) had a job or were engaged in any business activity in the EU-25, compared with 63.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2004. Spain recorded the highest rise of the Member States, from 61.5 per cent to 63.9 per cent.  According to the Labour Force Survey, the employment rate in Scotland for the corresponding period was 75.2 per cent, above the UK rate and that of most other countries in the European Union.

The increase in employment rates was combined with increased prevalence of part-time employment as well as an increase in the proportion of employees with temporary contracts. The share of part- time employment in total employment showed significant growth between the third quarters 2004 and 2005. In the third quarter 2005, 7.2 per cent of employed men (+0.3 percentage points) and 31.8 per cent of employed women (+0.7 percentage points) worked part-time.

The share of employees with temporary contacts in the EU25 rose also, to reach 14.5 per cent (+0.8 percentage points) of male employees and 15.4 per cent (+0.7 percentage points) of female employees.