In the first quarter 2021, the seasonally adjusted employment rate of people aged 20-64 in the EU stood at 71.9%.
The labor market slack, which comprises all people who have an unmet need for employment, amounted to 14.8% of the extended labor force aged 20-64 in the first quarter 2021. Its main component is unemployment, which stood at 7.1% of the extended labor force.
Underemployed part-time workers made up 3.0%, those available for work but not searching for work were 4.1%, and those actively searching for work but not available to take up work stood at 0.7%, all in percentage of the extended labor force.
This information comes from EU Labor Force Survey data of the first quarter of 2021 published by Eurostat.
Among Member States, the highest employment rates in the first quarter of 2021 were recorded in the Netherlands (81.0%), Sweden (79.5%), Czechia (79.4%) and Estonia (79.4%).
The lowest employment rates were observed in Greece (58.3%), Italy (61.1%) and Spain (66.6%). These three countries also showed the highest labor market slack rates at 25.1%, 25.0% and 25.2%, respectively.
Total labor market slack was lowest in Czechia (4.4%), Malta (6.1%) and Poland (6.7%).
