Poland has recorded the highest growth in employment in the European Union in the last quarter of 2020 on a year-to-year basis, according to Eurostat data. In comparison with data for the last quarter of 2019, the index of employed persons in Poland increased by 0.8 percentage points.
In addition to Poland, Luxembourg also saw a 0.6-percentage-point growth in employment. The remaining member states, with the exception of the Netherlands, which maintained a stable employment rate, noted drops in employment growth mainly due to the pandemic crisis. The highest decreases were seen in Ireland and Spain with a loss of -2.5 percentage points.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller emphasized that the actions undertaken by Polish companies and employees alongside government anti-crisis shields are bringing in results in the form of workplaces. The prime minister’s chancellery shared the data on social media: “Changes in the level of employment in general in EU states – data for the fourth quarter of 2020.”
Zmiana poziomu zatrudnienia ogółem w państwach UE – dane za IV kw. 2020. pic.twitter.com/l9Wgo4G115
— Kancelaria Premiera (@PremierRP) April 15, 2021
It is important to note, however, that this data does not mean that the index of employed is the highest among EU states overall. This means, that Poland has seen the highest growth in the period which the data concerns, so 2020.
The index of employed people of working age in Poland is 69.2 percent, according to data for the fourth quarter of 2020. While this result is above the EU average (67.9 percent), there are countries in which this index is significantly higher: Holland (77.8 percent), Germany (76.3 percent) and Sweden (75.3 percent).
Eurostat pointed out, that the entire job market in the EU slightly improved in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of the same year. The employment index among people aged 20-64 was 72.6 percent in the fourth quarter, which was a 0.3 percentage point increase compared to third quarter.
The number of working people in the EU dropped by 3.13 million in the entire EU in 2020. The decrease amounted to 2.67 million in the Eurozone itself.
Eurostat data also shows what has been known for quite a while – the pandemic has hit youth on the job market particularly harshly. Nevertheless, the scale of this issue may be shocking when compared to other countries.
In the period between the end of 2019 and the end of 2020, employment of people aged between 15-24 decreased by 208 thousand. This is the worst result in the EU. It is better even in much larger countries such as Germany or those struggling with issues on the job market, such as Spain. In these states, the decreases were much lower and were accordingly: 175 thousand for Germany and 198 thousand for Spain.
