Today’s EU employment figures for the first quarter of 2016, issued by Eurostat, show a very slight improvement over the last three months of 2015. The number of people in work increased by 0.3% in the euro area and the EU28.
ETUC Deputy General Secretary Veronica Nilsson commented: “We welcome the overall increase in employment consistent with the previous quarter – long may that continue. But now is the time to take pro-active steps to achieve greater convergence with increasing levels of employment across all Member States. Although some countries are doing well, it is alarming that employment rates are falling in Poland, Greece, Latvia and the Netherlands. Just as important, these new posts must be the quality jobs that the ETUC continues to push for, and not merely low-paid or precarious contracts.”
