Statistics in Focus: Population and social conditions. Labour Market Latest Trends 1st quarter 2005 data 63.2% of the working age population in employment. 2005.16

Abstract

This publication belongs to a quarterly series presenting the European Union Labour Force Survey main results for the EU-25 and for all Member States1. Part-time jobs and temporary contracts stimulate the employment in the EU In the first quarter 2005, 63.2% of the working age population (15-64 years of age) held a job or other business activity in the EU-25, compared to 62.6% one year before. Among member states, Spain (from 60.3% to 62.1%) and Slovenia (from 63.8% to 65.2%) recorded the highest increases2. The gender gap in employment continues to narrow: while the male employment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points from 70.2% in the 1st quarter 2004 to 70.6% in the first quarter 2005, the female employment rate rose by 0.7 points in a year, to reach 55.8% of women aged 15 to 64 years. As a result of the rise in the employment rate, the share of the active population (employed plus unemployed people) in the whole population aged 15-64 increased, to reach 69.8% in the 1st quarter 2005, compared to 69.4% one year before. The female unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points while the male unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 points in this period3. However, the long-term unemployment rate, which measures the share of the people unemployed for one year and more in the active population, remained almost unchanged (0.2 point decline for women and 0.1 point decline for men).