Czechia Ranks As The Second Country With The Highest Employment Rate In The EU 2021
Title image: Share of Employment Rate and Labor Market Slack in Q1 2021. Credit: Eurostat. Text by Basak Yirmibesoglu, edited for Jobspin
According to latest data from the Eurostat, European Union Statistical Office, in the first quarter of 2021, Czechia had the lowest labur market slack (4%) and second highest employment rate (almost 80%) in the EU. The seasonally adjusted employment rate of people aged 20-64 in the EU stood at over 70%.
According to the Eurostat data, the Netherlands recorded the highest employment rate in the first quarter of 2021, at just over 80%. Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Estonia shared second place with just under 80%.
Top 3 EU countries with the highest employment rate in Q1 2021. Source: Eurostat 2021
| Netherlands | 81% |
| Sweden | 79% |
| Czechia | 79% |
| Estonia | 79% |
| Germany | 78% |
Czechia reported the lowest total labor market slack among EU member countries (4%) followed by Malta and Poland with around 6%. The labor market slack comprises all people who have an unmet need for employment.
On the other end of the scale, Greece, Italy and Spain have the lowest employment rates, and the highest labor market slack rates, of over 25%.
3 EU countries with the lowest employment rate in Q1 2021. Source: Eurostat 2021
| Spain | 67% |
| Italy | 61% |
| Greece | 58% |
According to the survey, in the first quarter of 2021, the labor market slacks across the EU ran to over 14% of the extended labor force aged 20-64.
As a percentage of the extended labor force, underemployed part-time workers made up almost 3%, while those available for work but not actively searching for work was another 4%. Those actively searching for work but not available to take up work stood at over 0.5%.
