The statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) is reporting slight growth in both gross domestic product (GDP) and employment across the continent during the second quarter of 2022.

GDP growth in the Euro Area and European Union (EU) grew by 0.6 per cenyt in the quarter relative to the previous first quarter GDP growth was recorded at 0.5 per cent in the Euro Area and by 0.6 per cent in the EU.

Relative to the second quarter of 2021, GDP grew by 3.9 per cent in the Euro area and 4.0 per cent in the EU. This came after a 5.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent increase in the Euro Area and EU respectively in the previous quarter of 2021.

Second quarter economic performance in the United States saw a contraction of 0.2 per cent relative to the previous quarter, where there was also a decline in the order of 0.4 per cent.

Employment growth in Euro Area and EU 

In the second quarter of 2022, the number of persons employed in both the Euro Area and EU increased by 0.3 per cent relative to the first quarter of 2022. In the first quarter, employment had increased by 0.6 per cent in the Euro Area and by 0.5 per cent in the EU.

Compared to Q2 2021, employment increased 2.4 per cent in the Euro Area and by 2.3 per cent in the EU in the second quarter of 2022, after a 2.9 per cent increase in the Euro Area and 2.8 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2022.

Euro area (EA19): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.