În trimestrul al patrulea din 2023, numărul de persoane angajate a crescut cu 0,3% în zona euro și cu 0,2% în Uniunea Europeană, conform datelor publicate de Eurostat. Overall in 2023, the number of employed persons increased by 1.4% in the eurozone and 1.2% in the EU, following a growth of 2.3% and 2.0% respectively in 2022. The number of hours worked also increased, by 0.1% in the eurozone and 0.2% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the previous quarter. In comparison to the same quarter of the previous year, the number of hours worked increased by 0.7% in the eurozone and 0.4% in the EU. Over the whole of 2023, the number of hours worked increased by 1.3% in the eurozone and by 1.0% in the EU, after a growth of 3.4% and 2.8% respectively in 2022. These figures provide an overview of the contribution of the labor force in line with the measurement of production and income in the national accounts. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Romania (+1.5%), Malta (+1.4%) and Spain (+0.8%) recorded the highest increase in employment compared to the previous quarter. The largest decrease in employment was recorded in Latvia (-1.0%), Finland (-0.6%) and Poland (-0.2%). Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2023, 217.1 million persons were employed in the EU, of which 169.3 million in the eurozone. Combining GDP and employment data allows for an estimation of labor productivity. The analysis of year-on-year growth shows that between 2013 and 2018, productivity growth fluctuated around 1% for both regions, before the COVID-19 pandemic caused high volatility in 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2023, labor productivity fell by 1.1% in the eurozone and by 0.8% in the EU, compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Based on hours worked, productivity also saw a decrease of 1.2% in the eurozone and 0.7% in the EU. If you appreciate this news, we invite you to join our community of readers on our Facebook page, by giving us a Like!