EU employment rate in 20 to 64 age group drops to 68.6 percent

[News_Editor]

EU employment rate in 20 to 64 age group drops to 68.6 percent

2011-06-29 20:35:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The total employment rate for people in the European Union (EU) aged 20 to 64 was 68.6 percent in 2010, the EU said Wednesday.

The numbers on the EU's 27 wider Member State area were released by the EU's statistical office, Eurostat. According to previous studies, employment rates in the same age group rose consistently from 66.8 percent in 2002 to 70.4 percent in 2008, then fell to 69.1 percent in 2009, and further decreased in 2010 to 68.6 percent. The age group is also the targeted in the Europe 2020 strategy.

The study, which is based on the 2010 results of the European Labor Force Survey, also showed that employment rate for women in 2009 dropped for the first time since 2000 to 62.5 percent, then decreased slightly again in 2010 to 62.1 percent. From 2000 to 2008, the group increased continuously from 57.3 percent to 63.0 percent.

However, the rate for older people, that is, those aged 55 to 64, has continued to grow, reaching 46.3 percent in 2010, compared with 36.9 percent in 2000.

Meanwhile, the highest employment rates were reported in Sweden (78.7 percent), the Netherlands (76.8 percent), Denmark (76.1 percent), and Cyprus (75.4 percent). Other countries with higher rates included Germany and Austria (both 74.9 percent), while the lowest rates were recorded in Malta (59.9 percent), Hungary (60.4 percent), Italy (61.1 percent), Spain (62.5 percent) and Romania (63.3 percent).

In addition, the study showed that in 2010, 81.5 percent of people employed worked full-time, with shares of 68.6 percent for women and 92.2 percent for men. On average in the EU27, employees working full-time usually worked 40.4 hours a week, with women averaging 39.3 hours and men 41.1 hours.

The longest weekly working hours for full-time employees were observed in the United Kingdom (42.2 hours), Austria (42.0), Bulgaria and the Czech Republic (both 41.2), and the shortest in Denmark (37.7), Ireland (38.4), the Netherlands (38.9) and Italy (39.0). In all Member States, men had longer working hours than women among full-time employees.

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