The number of persons employed in the euro area (EA16) fell by 0.8% (1 220 000 persons) in the first quarter of 2009 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 decreased by 0.8% (1 916 000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2008, employment declined by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU27. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment dropped by 1.2% in both zones in the first quarter of 2009, after remaining stable in the euro area and increasing by 0.2% in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2009, 223.8 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 146.2 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 measure of national accounts.