EU Employment Rate Rises to 76.3% as Q1 Labour Market Slack Falls to 10.9%
Updated
Updated · European Commission · Jun 12
EU Employment Rate Rises to 76.3% as Q1 Labour Market Slack Falls to 10.9%
1 articles · Updated · European Commission · Jun 12
Summary
Q1 2026 data showed 76.3% of EU residents aged 20-64 were employed, up 0.1 percentage point from 76.2% in the previous quarter.
Labour market slack — covering unemployed people and others with unmet need for work — eased to 10.9% of the extended labour force from 11.0% in Q4 2025.
Italy posted the biggest employment-rate gain at 0.5 percentage point, while Belgium, Cyprus, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden each rose 0.4 point.
Employment was unchanged in 6 EU countries and fell in 10, with the sharpest drops in Latvia at 0.8 point and Ireland at 0.7 point.