The job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA18) was 1.7% in the first quarter of 2014, up from 1.6% recorded both in the previous quarter and in the first quarter of 2013, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU28 was 1.6% in the first quarter of 2014, up from 1.5% recorded in the previous quarter and in the first quarter of 2013.

Within industry and construction, the job vacancy rate for the euro area was 1.1% in the first quarter of 2014 and 2.3% for services. In the EU28 the rate was 1.1% in industry and construction and 2.0% in services.

Member States

Among the Member States for which comparable data are available, the highest job vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2014 were recorded in Germany (2.9%), the United Kingdom (2.1%) and Belgium (2.0%), and the lowest in Cyprus (0.2%), Poland (0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2013) and Latvia (0.5%).

Among the Member States for which data for the first quarter of 2014 are available, the job vacancy rate rose in thirteen, remained stable in nine and fell in three compared with the first quarter of 2013. The largest increases were registered in the United Kingdom (+0.4 percentage points), Denmark and Germany (both +0.3 p.p.), and the decreases in Belgium, Spain and Austria (all -0.2 p.p.).