The number of persons employed in the euro area (EA15) decreased by 0.1% (80 000 persons) in the third 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 remained virtually stable. In the second quarter of 2008, growth rates were +0.2% in the euro area and +0.1% in the EU27. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment grew by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU27 in the third quarter of 2008, after +1.3% and +1.4% respectively in the second quarter of 2008.

Eurostat estimates that, in the third quarter of 2008, 226.7 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 146.1 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.