The average job vacancy rate in the 19 countries of the euro area was 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 2.1% in the third quarter and from 2% in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the latest figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Similarly, the average job vacancy rate was also 2.3% in the whole of the European Union (EU28) during the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 2.2% in the third quarter of 2018 and from 2.0% in the fourth quarter of 2017, said Eurostat.
Regarding the main economic activity branches, in the euro area the job vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2018 was 2% in industry and construction, and 2.6% in services. In the EU, the rate was 2.1% in industry and construction and 2.6% in services.
Member states
Among the member states for which comparable data are available, huge differences were observed. The highest job vacancy rates in the fourth quarter of 2018 were recorded in Czechia (6%), Belgium and Germany (3.4%) and Austria (3.1%).
In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.4%), Bulgaria, Ireland, Spain and Portugal (all 0.9%). In Finland the job vacancy rate 1.8%, while in Sweden it was 2.1%, according to Eurostat.
Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2018 rose in twenty member states, remained stable in Belgium, Cyprus, Finland and Sweden, but fell in Estonia, Ireland, Croatia (all of them -0.1 percentage points) and Lithuania (-0.2 percentage points).
The largest increases were registered in Czechia (1.6 pp), Austria (0.8 pp), Malta (0.7 pp) and Germany (0.6 pp).
