Employment in the European Union (EU) reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2024, while unemployment dropped to its lowest point since 2000, according to data released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report, which covers individuals aged 15 to 64 and includes seasonally adjusted figures, highlights broad labor market gains across the continent. The EU’s employment rate climbed to 70.9 percent in Q4 2024, the highest level recorded since the OECD began publishing data in 2005.
Eight EU member states, along with Türkiye, registered their highest employment rates on record during the same period. These gains reflect continued economic recovery and resilience in several member economies. Among the 24 EU countries tracked in the dataset, national employment rates ranged from 62.2 percent in Italy to 82.3 percent in the Netherlands. Germany led among the EU’s five largest economies with a 77.6 percent employment rate, followed by the UK at 75 percent. France reported a rate of 68.9 percent, slightly below both the EU and OECD averages.
Spain and Italy remained among the lowest, with 66.3 percent and 62.2 percent respectively, alongside Greece and Türkiye. The countries that achieved record employment rates in the final quarter of 2024 include Germany, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Slovakia, Belgium, Spain, Greece, and Türkiye. While some increases were modest, they contributed to the overall EU-wide peak. The Netherlands remained a standout performer, being the only country to consistently maintain an employment rate above 80 percent since the start of data collection.
In tandem with the rise in employment, the EU’s unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent in February 2025 the lowest since January 2000. This figure also applies to the working-age population and is adjusted for seasonal variations. The wide gap in unemployment rates across member states highlights persistent regional disparities. Poland recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6 percent, followed by the Czech Republic and Malta. Spain, in contrast, continued to report the highest rate among EU countries at 10.4 percent, remaining the only nation in the bloc with a double-digit unemployment figure.
Finland and Sweden followed, posting rates of 9.2 percent and 8.9 percent respectively. Germany again led among Europe’s five major economies with a 3.5 percent unemployment rate, placing fourth overall among the countries surveyed. The UK followed with a 4.4 percent unemployment rate based on data from January 2025. The OECD’s findings underscore a sustained trend of labor market improvement in the European Union, with employment reaching historic levels and unemployment nearing a quarter-century low. – By EuroWire News Desk.