Employment down by 0.1% in euro area, stable in EU

The number of persons employed decreased by 0.1 percent in the euro area and remained stable in the EU in the second quarter of 2013 compared with the previous quarter, according to estimates published Friday by Eurostat, the EU statistical office. In the first quarter of 2013, employment decreased by 0.4 percent in the euro area and by 0.2 percent in the EU. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment fell by 1.0 percent in the euro area and by 0.4 precent in the EU in the second quarter of 2013. Eurostat estimates that in the second quarter of 2013, 221.8 million men and women were employed in the EU, of which 145 million were in the euro area