Portugal is the third European country with the least jobs available

From October to December, the job vacancy rate remained stable in both the European Union and the Eurozone, compared to the previous quarter, according to data released this Monday by Eurostat. Among the European member states, Portugal was the third country with the fewest jobs available (0.9%), being exceeded only by Greece (0.5%) and Bulgaria (0.8%).

“The vacancy rate in the Eurozone stood at 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019, stable compared with the previous quarter and below the 2.3% registered in the fourth quarter of 2018. In the European Union (EU), the vacancy rate was also 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019, stable compared to the previous quarter and to the fourth quarter of 2018,” the Eurostat said.

Between October and December, the job vacancy rate in the Euro Zone was 1.9% in industry and construction and 2.5% in services. In the EU, the rate was also 1.9% in industry and construction, but slightly lower in services, at 2.4.%, according to the European Statistics Office.

In the last quarter of 2019, it was in the Czech Republic (5.9%), Belgium (3.4%), Germany (3.3%) and the Netherlands (3.2%) that the highest job vacancy rates among European Member States were recorded. Conversely, Greece (0.5%) and Bulgaria (0.8%) were the countries with the lowest percentage of available jobs.

In third place comes Portugal, as well as Ireland and Spain, where the vacancy rate stood at 0.9%. In comparison with the previous quarter, Portugal was 0.1 percentage points below the previous figure and stable compared with the same period in 2018.