Between 2002 and 2010, the employment rate across the European Union (EU) rose from 66.8 per cent to 68.6 per cent.

Although the number of people in work dipped during 2009 and 2010, the overall labour market expanded from 2002 among those aged between 20 and 64, reaching a high of 70.4 per cent in 2008.

Published by Eurostat, the data also revealed the nation with the highest employment rates in 2010 was Sweden (78.7 per cent), followed by the Netherlands (76.8 per cent) and Denmark (76.1 per cent).

Employment rates for women increased between 2000 and 2008 from 57.3 per cent to 63 per cent, dipping back to 62.1 per cent in 2010, while among older people there has been a steady rise in those in work from 46.3 per cent to 36.9 per cent over the period in question.

Eurostat data published earlier this month showed employment grew by 0.3 per cent year-on-year across the EU during the first quarter of 2011.

Posted by Alex Donnell