Third quarter of 2016 Euro Area job vacancy rate at 1.6% and EU28 at 1.8%
The job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA19) was 1.6% in the third quarter of 2016, down from 1.7 % in the previous quarter, but up from 1.5 % in the third quarter of 2015, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU28 was 1.8 % in the third quarter of 2016, stable compared with the previous quarter and up from 1.6 % in the third quarter of 2015
In the Euro Area, the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2016 was 1.3 % in industry and construction, and 2.0 % in services. In the EU28, the rate was 1.4 % in industry and construction, and 2.1 % in services.
Member States
Among the Member States for which comparable data are available (see country notes), the highest job vacancy rates in the third quarter of 2016 were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.1%), Belgium (2.9 %), the United Kingdom (2.5 %) and Germany (2.3 %), and the lowest in Spain and Portugal (both 0.7 %), Bulgaria, Greece and Poland (all 0.8 %).
Compared with a year ago, the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2016 rose in twenty three Member States and remained stable in five. The largest increases were registered in Latvia (+1.2 pp percentage points – see country note), the Czech Republic (+0.8 pp) and Cyprus (+0.7 pp).
Geographical information
The euro area (EA19) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
The European Union (EU28) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Methods and definitions
The job vacancy rate (JVR) measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant, expressed as a percentage: JVR = (number of job vacancies) / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies).
A job vacancy is defined as a paid post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) for which the employer is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned and is prepared to take more steps and which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future. Under this definition, a job vacancy should be open to candidates from outside an enterprise. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the employer recruiting an internal candidate for the post. A vacant post that is open only to internal candidates should not be treated as a job vacancy. An occupied post is a paid post within an organisation to which an employee has been assigned.
Job vacancy rates cover NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S. This aggregate is referred to as “Whole economy” for the sake of simplification, even if agriculture, activities of households as employers and activities of extraterritorial organisations are excluded. NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S include the industry (B to E), construction (F) and services (G to N) sectors together with (mainly) non-market services (O to S).
The job vacancy rates for the EU and euro area aggregates are based on Member States data, including estimates for recent periods when values are not yet available. If national data are only available for a sub-population, for example excluding smaller units or some activities, this sub-population is used in the computation of the job vacancy rate for the aggregates.
Country notes
Denmark, France, Italy and Malta: data are not strictly comparable. In France and Italy, only business units with 10 employees or more are surveyed. Moreover, in the case of public administration, education and human health (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q), public institutions are not covered. France delivers annual data with coverage extended to units with less than 10 employees within the sectors provided. The last available data (reference year 2013) indicate a job vacancy rate of 0.9% for the economy covered. In Malta, only units with 10 employees or more are surveyed. In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev 2 sections B to N) are surveyed.
Latvia: data are not strictly comparable over time due to the methodological changes introduced in the fourth quarter of 2015.