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EUR | Feb 22, 2021

GDP down and employment up in the euro area and in the EU

/ Our Today

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Strong rebound recorded in third quarter

European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 5, 2020. (File Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman)

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), is reporting mixed performance in the European marketplace in terms of growth and employment figures during the fourth quarter.

For the last quarter of 2020, economic growth for the Euro area decreased by 0.6 per cent and by 0.4 per cent in the EU, when compared with the previous period. According to the estimates published last week, “these declines follow a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 (+12.4 per cent in the euro area and +11.5 per cent in the EU)”.

The sharpest decreases since the time series started in 1995 were observed in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.7 per cent in the euro area and -11.4 per cent in the EU). Furthermore, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the seasonally adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 5.0 per cent in the Euro area and by 4.8 per cent in the EU when compared to the same quarter in 2019.

“… Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment decreased by 2.0 per cent in the Euro area and by 1.7 per cent in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2020, after -2.3 per cent and -2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2020.”

Eurostat

In the third quarter GDP was down 4.3 per cent in the euro area and 4.2 per cent in the EU in the previous quarter. Eurostat points out that the GDP of the United States went up by one per cent, when compared to the previous quarter and when compare to the same quarter in 2029, GDP declined by 2.5 per cent.

Rise in employment

According to Eurostat, the number of employed persons rose by 0.3 per cent in both the euro area and EU in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to the third quarter of 2020. In the third quarter of 2020, employment had increased by 1.0 per cent in the Euro area and by 0.9 per cent in the EU.

Additionally, it was reported that “compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment decreased by 2.0 per cent in the Euro area and by 1.7 per cent in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2020, after -2.3 per cent and -2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2020”.

Eurostat estimates employment for 2020 decreased by 1.8 per cent in the Euro area and by 1.6 per cent in the EU.

Tags
employment EU euro area European Union Eurostat gross domestic product

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