Malta recorded the second highest growth in employment in the first quarter of this year in the |EU, Eurostat said yesterday.

Estonia (+2.8%), Malta (+1.7%), Sweden (+1.2%) and Ireland (+1.1%) recorded the highest increases in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the previous quarter. In contrast, decreases in employment were observed in Latvia (-1.9%), Romania (-1.2%), Croatia (-0.6%) and Lithuania (-.5%).

The number of persons employed increased by 0.4% in both the euro area (EA19) and in the EU28 in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the fourth quarter of 2016, employment increased also by 0.4% in both areas. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU28 in the first quarter of 2017 (after +1.4% and +1.1% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2016).

Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2017, 234.2 million men and women were employed in the EU28, of which 154.8 million were in the euro area, highest levels ever recorded in both areas. 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.