The number of persons employed in the euro area (EA15) rose by 0.3% (446 000 persons) in the first 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 0.3% (753 000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.3% in both zones. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the first quarter of 2007, employment grew by 1.6% in both the euro area and the EU27 in the first quarter of 2008, after +1.8% in both zones in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2008, 226.0 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 145.7 million were in the euro area. These figures are seasonally adjusted.