(22 March 2018) – In 2016, 231 of the EU regions (84%) saw their employment grow in 2016. In 32 other regions, the number of persons employed decreased and in a further 12 employment remained stable.
Growth in employment varied widely across the EU regions and within countries. The highest employment growth rates were recorded in Subcarpathia (+7.9%) and Opole (+5.9%) in Poland, Melilla (+4.8%) in Spain and Pomerania and Warmia-Masuria (both +4.7%) in Poland.
At the opposite end of the scale, the biggest decreases in employment were registered in North-East (-3.8%) and South-West Oltenia (-3.0%) in Romania, Greater Poland (-2.5%) in Poland, Severoiztochen (-2.3%) in Bulgaria and Silesia (-2.2%) in Poland.
In 21 EU regions, the employment growth exceeded 3%. Six of these regions were located in Poland and in the United Kingdom, two each in Italy and Spain and one each in Hungary, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia. In these regions, employment grew by a total of 604 000 persons.