Q2 2014: Eurozone job vacancy rate stable at 1.7%, EU28 stable at 1.6%

The job vacancy rate¹ in the eurozone² (EA18) was 1.7% in the second quarter of 2014, unchanged compared to the previous quarter, but up from 1.5% in the second quarter of 2013, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU28² was 1.6% in the second quarter of 2014, also unchanged compared to the previous quarter and up from 1.5% in the second quarter of 2013.

*     Data for EU27 up to 2009 Q4, data for EU28 from 2010 Q1. Differences between the two zones are well below 0.01 percentage points.

In the eurozone, the job vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2014 was 1.0% in industry and construction and 2.2% in services. In the EU28 the rate was 1.1% in industry and construction and 2.1% in services.

Member states

Among the member states for which comparable⁴ data are available, the highest job vacancy rates in the second quarter of 2014 were recorded in Germany (2.8%), Belgium (2.4%) and the United Kingdom (2.3%), and the lowest in Latvia (0.4%), Poland (0.5% in the first quarter of 2014), Portugal and Spain (both 0.6%).

* Data for Greece and Poland refer to the first quarter of 2014.

Among the member states for which data for the second quarter of 2014 are available⁵, the job vacancy rate rose in fifteen, remained stable in four and fell in seven compared with the second quarter of 2013. The largest increases were registered in Cyprus and the United Kingdom (both +0.4 percentage points), the Czech Republic, Germany and Luxembourg (all +0.3 pp), and the largest decreases in Spain (-0.3 pp) and Austria
(-0.2 pp).

1. 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. 1 sections A to O until the fourth quarter of 2008 and NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S from the first quarter of 2009. These aggregates are 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 includes the industry (B to E), construction (F) and services (G to N) sectors together with (mainly) non-market services (O to S).

2. The EA18 includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The 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.

The tables also include data for Norway, Switzerland and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

3. The job vacancy rates for the EU and eurozone aggregates are based on member state 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 (see footnote 4), this sub-population is used in the computation of the job vacancy rate for the aggregates.
4. This excludes Denmark, France, Italy and Malta for which job vacancies do not cover the whole economy. 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. In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev 2 sections B to N) are surveyed. In Malta, only units with 10 employees or more are surveyed. France delivers annual data with coverage extended to units with less than 10 employees within the sectors provided. The last available data (reference year 2012) indicate a job vacancy rate of 1.0% for the economy covered.
5. This excludes Greece and Poland.

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