The number of persons employed in the euro area (EA15) rose by 0.2% (283 000 persons) in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 also grew by 0.2% (401 000 persons).

In the first quarter of 2008, growth rates were +0.3% in both zones.

These figures are seasonally adjusted. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment grew by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2008, after +1.6% and +1.5% respectively in the first quarter of 2008.

Eurostat estimates that, in the second quarter of 2008, 226.4 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 146.0 million were in the euro area. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

These quarterly data on employment provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measures of national accounts.