The number of persons employed remained stable in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU28 in the third quarter of 2013 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the second quarter of 2013, employment was also stable in both zones. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment fell by 0.8% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU28 in the third quarter of 2013 (after -1.1% and -0.6% respectively in the second quarter of 2013).

Eurostat estimates that, in the third quarter of 2013, 223.2 million men and women were employed in the EU28, of which 145.0 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.

Employment growth by Member States

Among those Member States for which data are available, Portugal (+1.2%), Ireland (+1.1%), the United Kingdom (+0.6%) and Luxembourg (+0.5%) recorded the highest increases compared with the previous quarter, while Estonia and Lithuania (both -1.5%), Cyprus (-1.4%), Finland (-1.2%) and Greece (-0.7%) registered the largest decreases.