Portuguese employment goes down, despite EU’s upward trend
The number of people employed at the EU level (EA19 and EU28) increased by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2018 in comparison to the same quarter last year. In Portugal, it went down by -0.3%.
Eurostat compared the data for the employment creation in the European Union, which was released this Wednesday. The worst performance was found in Latvia, Portugal and Romania (-0.3%).
Both in the European Union and the Eurozone, there has been a growth of 0.4% in the number of people employed, according to Eurostat’s report. The European statistics office also estimates that 238.9 million men and women were employed in the EU28, while 158 million were in the euro area, the highest records ever reached in both areas.
Among the member states that provided data for the second quarter of 2018, Estonia, Malta (1.3%) and Poland (1.2%), showed the best growth in employment, followed by Cyprus (1%) and Luxembourg (0.9%). These five countries all registered a GDP growth above 3% this year.
The European Commission’s summer forecast estimated Malta’s GDP to grow by 5.4% this year. Estonia and Luxembourg should see their GDP go up by 3.5%, Poland by 4.6%, while Cyprus should see their GDP growth hit 3.6%.
According to the forecast, the growth rate of GDP this year will hit 2.2% in Portugal, 3.3% in Latvia, 3.8% in Bulgaria and 4.1% in Romania.
