Greece amongst countries with lowest job vacancy rates

According to the latest figures from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat, Greece is amongst the countries with the lowest job vacancy rates.

Among the EU Member States for which comparable data are available the highest job vacancy rates in the third quarter of 2019 were recorded in Czechia (6.2%), Belgium (3.4%), Germany and the Netherlands (both 3.2%).

In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.7%, data from the second quarter of 2019), Ireland and Bulgaria (both 0.8%) and Spain (0.9%). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2019 rose in nine Member States, remained stable in Denmark, Greece (between the second quarters of 2018 and 2019), Italy, Austria, and Portugal, but fell in fourteen Member States. The largest increases were registered in Latvia (+0.6 pp), Czechia (+0.3 pp), Germany and the Netherlands (both +0.2 pp). The largest decreases were registered in Slovenia (-0.4 pp) and Hungary (-0.3 pp).

In its latest report, the job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA19) was 2.2% in the third quarter of 2019, down from 2.3% in the previous quarter and up from 2.1% in the third quarter of 2018, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the EU28, the job vacancy rate was 2.3% in the third quarter of 2019, stable compared with the previous quarter and up from 2.2% in the third quarter of 2018.

In the euro area, the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2019 was 1.9% in industry and construction and 2.5% in services. In the EU28, the rate was 2.0% in industry and construction and 2.5% in services.

Definition

Job vacancy rate (JVR) as used by Eurostat, is defined as a paid post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) for which the employer is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned and is prepared to take more steps and which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future.