Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat also publishes annual data which are calculated on the basis of quarterly data.
3.2. Classification system
The quarterly data are broken down by economic activity (at section level), in accordance with NACE Rev. 2 (Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community).
In addition, Eurostat publishes for some countries quarterly data broken down by:
occupation, in accordance with the ISCO classification (International standard classification of occupations)
region, in accordance with the NUTS classification (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics)
which are delivered by the countries on a voluntary basis.
The above-mentioned classifications are available in RAMON.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The data cover all economic activities defined by NACE Rev. 2, the common classification system for economic activities, except for the activities of households as employers and the activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies. Covering ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities’ is optional (NACE Rev. 2 section A).
Denmark, France and Italy: data are not strictly comparable. In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev 2 sections B to N) are surveyed. In France and Italy, ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security” (NACE Rev. 2 section O) is not surveyed while public institutions are not fully covered in ‘Education’ as well as ‘Human health and social work activities’ (NACE Rev. 2 sections P and Q).
More information can be found in the national quality reports.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
A 'job vacancy' is defined as a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied, or about to become vacant:
for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned; and
which the employer intends to fill either immediately or within a specific period of time.
‘Active steps to find a suitable candidate’ include:
notifying the job vacancy to the public employment services,
contacting a private employment agency/head hunters,
advertising the vacancy in the media (for example internet, newspapers, magazines),
advertising the vacancy on a public notice board,
approaching, interviewing or selecting possible candidates/potential recruits directly,
approaching employees and/or personal contacts,
using internships.
'Specific period of time’ refers to the maximum time the vacancy is open and intended to be filled. That period shall be unlimited; all vacancies for which active steps are continuing on the reference date shall be reported.
An 'occupied post’ means a paid post within the organisation to which an employee has been assigned.
The job vacancy rate (JVR) is the number of job vacancies expresses as a percentage of the sum of the number of occupied posts and the number of job vacancies:
JVR = number of job vacancies / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies) x100.
The "job vacancy rate quarter on quarter change" is measured as the current quarter´s job vacancy rate minus the rate for the previous quarter. It is expressed in percentage points.
The "job vacancy rate year on year change" is measured as the current quarter´s job vacancy rate minus the rate for the same quarter in the previous year. It is expressed in percentage points.
3.5. Statistical unit
The basic statistical unit for the data collection is the enterprise or local unit. However the majority of participating national statistical offices collect the vacancy data from enterprises. More information can be found in the quality reports of the countries.
3.6. Statistical population
In general, the data cover all enterprises with one or more employees. In France and Italy, public institutions are not fully covered in the sections ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ ‘Education’, and ‘Human health and social work activities’ (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q). In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to N) are surveyed.
3.7. Reference area
The European Union, the euro area, EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the Republic of North Macedonia and Türkiye.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Time series are available from 2009 for most countries. For some countries time series are longer and start before 2009. For the European Union and the euro area, data are from the first quarter of 2006 onwards.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Job vacancies and occupied posts measure number of posts. The job vacancy rate (JVR) measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant, according to the definition of job vacancy above, expressed as a percentage as follows:
JVR = [number of job vacancies / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies)] x 100.
The quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year changes are expressed in percentage points.
Data on job vacancies and occupied posts represent the stock of vacant and occupied posts at a given reference date or averaged across a given reference period. There is currently no internationally agreed rule for the time of recording of job vacancy statistics. Depending on countries, the time of recording for quarterly job vacancy statistics may be one specific day in the quarter (e.g. the 15th of the middle month, the last calendar or working day of the quarter) or a three month average. More information can be found in the quality reports of the countries.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
At the request of some countries, certain data are not published at national level. These data are only used for the calculation of EU-level statistics.
The Release Calendar for Euro Indicators is available at this website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Flash estimates: Member States whose number of employees represents more than 3 percent of the EU total transmit the aggregate number of vacancies and occupied posts within 45 days after the end of the reference quarter. Eurostat publish JVS flash for the EU around 5 days after the deadline for the data transmission.
Final release: Within 70 days after the end of the reference quarter, Member States transmit data broken down by economic activity. Eurostat publishes a news release around 7 days after the deadline for the data transmission.
The quality reports of the countries are avaible online (see links to the quality reports above).
11.1. Quality assurance
On arrival at Eurostat, data from the countries are checked for completeness and consistency.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Apart from a general check for completeness, JVS data are compared to other statistics, primarly EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), to check for consistency in developments over time.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Collecting JVS is very relevant, these being the only statistics that measure unmet labour demand. Quarterly data on job vacancies are used by the Commission (the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs) and the European Central Bank to monitor short-term developments in the business cycle and the labour market. The job vacancy rate is one of the principal European economic indicators (PEEIs), the primary source of information used to analyse and monitor short-term cyclical economic developments within the EU, the euro area and individual EU countries.
JVS are also used to analyse developments in the unemployment rate through the so-called Beveridge curve, as was done for instance in the Commission’s Joint Employment Report (JER).
However, JVS would be even more relevant if the existing gaps in the coverage of NACE Rev. 2 sections O to S, including public institutions were filled.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Eurostat does not carry out satisfaction survey targeted at users of Job Vacancy Statistics. Incomplete coverage is still the main reason why JVS data are not used more widely. It is vital for all Member States to fully cover the public sector and small businesses in their quarterly estimates. Improved coverage would also enable the number of vacancies for the European aggregates to be published.
12.3. Completeness
Since 2010, most EU member states deliver full JVS. France, Italy and Denmark still provide incomplete data, therefore EU aggregates are only available for the job vacancy rates. In France and Italy, public institutions are not fully covered in the sections ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ ‘Education’, and ‘Human health and social work activities’ (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q). In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to N) are surveyed.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
As an indication of accuracy, the countries calculate the coefficients of variation in the number of job vacancies (not seasonally adjusted), taking into account the characteristics of their national sample design. The coefficient of variation expresses the standard error as a percentage of the quantity being estimated. It provides a measure of the variability of the estimated number of job vacancies. The sample size and response rate significantly affect the accuracy of estimates. The detailed information can be found in point 13.2.
13.2. Sampling error
The coefficient of variation expresses the standard error as a percentage of the quantity being estimated. It provides a measure of the variability of the estimated number of job vacancies. According to the quality reports for the 2023 reference year, the coefficients of variation for total job vacancies were below 15% in all Member States exept Bulgaria and Ireland (at least for one of the four quarterly surveys conducted).
The sample size and response rate significantly affect the accuracy of estimates. According to the quality reports, the sample size varied from around 2500 businesses in Finland, 2558 in Malta, 3303 in Cyprus up to around 75000 in Poland and 139989 in Germany.
The response rate varied from 14.7 % in Germany (for the postal survey conducted in the fourth quarter), up to 98.3% in Lithuania and Denmark followed by France (98.7%).
The table in annex "JVS accuracy sampling error" provides information by countries.
The main non-sampling error leading to a possible bias is the reduced coverage in France, Italy and Denmark. Due to this, only job vacancy rates are published for the aggregates, as the bias in these should be smaller, no evidence on the magnitude exists on an EU level though.
14.1. Timeliness
Data are normally released around 50 and 78 days after the reference quarter (see point 9).
14.2. Punctuality
The punctuality of JVS transmissions was generally satisfactory as regards both the flash estimate and the final publication. Although minor delays were recorded occasionally for some countries, there were no structurally late deliveries that could impair the timely publication of the JVS release. Member States have been reminded regularly of the importance of meeting the mandatory deadlines for transmitting PEEI data, including job vacancy statistics.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Data are, in general, comparable across the countries. The main issue concerns the reduced coverage for some countries.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Data are, in general, comparable over time. There are the following breaks in time series:
Portugal: Data before the first quarter of 2010 exclude data for the Autonomous Regions and data for public administration.
Spain: A new survey was introduced from 2013Q2. Until further notice, no data are available from 2013Q1. Before the first quarter of 2010 the number of vacancies and occupied posts for section "O - Public administration and defence; compulsory social security" have not been transmitted and were not included in aggregated groups (B-S, O-Q).
France: In the fourth quarter of 2010 there was a change in the questionnaire that collects information on job vacancies. This led to a sizeable increase to the number of vacancies compared to past observations. There were some significant revisions in the transmission of French 2018Q4 data back to 2015Q4. France explained that these were the result of an improvement in the Acemo survey’s coverage (Acemo: ‘Activité et conditions d’emploi de la main-d’oeuvre’), which had triggered a level shift in both occupied posts and vacancies, leaving the job vacancy rate broadly unchanged. Since May 2024, France has extended the scope of job offers to companies with fewer than 10 employees, using two surveys on labor activity and employment conditions (Acemo): the quarterly survey and the survey of very small businesses. It does result in an automatic and important increase in the number of vacancies. The bakward data was revised.
Germany: The survey results are corrected for non-responses starting with the fourth quarter of 2010.
Malta: The new methodology is implemented from Q1 2017. The backward data was revised in 2018.
Belgium: A new survey and new methodology were introduced from the first quarter of 2012.
Italy: Break in series after 2009Q4 due to changes in estimation method and survey.
Slovenia: New methodology from 2013Q1; a new survey was introduced from 2015Q1.
Finland: New methodology from 2013Q1.
Latvia: New methodology from 2015Q4.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
It is not possible to check directly the extent to which job vacancies are measured in a consistent fashion, as there is no other harmonised source used at European level that measures unmet demand on the labour market. While many Member States count vacancies reported to public employment services, it is problematic to use these figures to check whether the JVS are measured in a consistent way. This is because they suffer from heavy undercoverage and/or double counting if the administrative register is not updated to take account of filled vacancies. Moreover, JVS from administrative sources are based on national definitions, which differ from one country to another.
The number of occupied posts, a variable which is part of the denominator of the job vacancy rate, can be compared with information from other sources, in particular the number of employees reported in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Comparisons and subsequent assessments of differences must nevertheless take account of conceptual and survey-related differences between sources.
The relative difference between the number of employees recorded in the EU-LFS and the number of occupied posts in JVS for the whole economy generally fluctuates between +/- 10%. Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria, Portugal, Greece, Hungary and Romania are exceptions.
Romania explained in its quality report that discrepancies between the LFS and JVS as regards the number of occupied posts reflected the fact that occupied posts collected using JVS methods did not include the following:
individuals whose employment contract is suspended for a given period (on the grounds of maternity leave, childcare leave, sick leave or unpaid leave, or because of some other type of absence);
posts which, though temporarily suspended, might fall vacant and be occupied for a limited period of time;
posts in armed forces or in the informal sector.
Greece provided some general explanations, pointing out the differences between the two sources as regards methodology and definitions.
Bulgaria’s quality report stated that the definition of employees used in the LFS is broader than for JVS statistics, encompassing people working under a civil contract (contract for certain work to be done), those working under management and control contracts, and those working without a contract of any kind. Moreover, JVS do not include military personnel.
Hungary does not cover businesses with fewer than five employees in its JVS, but imputes them based on the data collected for businesses with 5-9 employees; this may explain part of the gap recorded.
Together with the competent national authorities of the countries listed above, Eurostat will monitor discrepancies between the number of employees recorded by the LFS and the number of occupied posts recorded in JVS.
It is also important that vacancies and posts on the payroll of temporary agencies are covered and assigned to section N of NACE Rev. 2.
Finally, the main challenge as regards comparability is for all Member States to cover the entire economy in their job vacancy surveys, i.e. NACE Rev.2 sections O to S, including public institutions. As noted in sections 3.3 above, three Member States continue to fall short of this objective.
The detailed information is in the countries' quality reports.
15.4. Coherence - internal
All figures are checked for internal consistency.
Depends a lot on the data source. In countries with stand alone surveys, the burden for a surveyed business unit may be some minutes. If the survey is part of an omnibus in most cases it will be a matter of seconds.
In principle all data are subject to revision. Major causes of revisions are additional data being received and the implementation of new or updated methodologies.
17.2. Data revision - practice
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.
Country data may be published even if flagged as provisional or of low reliability. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated (e.g. updating in connection with the publication of next reference period)
European aggregates may be published even if some country data are missing in which case they would be imputed based on previous periods.
New data are only used to update disseminated data if provided according to the provision schedule set by Eurostat, or in the case of reported errors.
The entire time series is usually revised. Aggregates and components are revised at the same time.
In terms of revisions, the situation differs for the two releases of the job vacancy rate, i.e. the flash and the final estimates. The flash estimates, which are released in Eurobase at T+50 days, may be revised at T+78 days, when the news release with the final estimates is published. Although the flash data did not cover all the Member States, revisions did not exceed 0.1 percentage points for the euro area and the EU.
As regards final estimates published at T+78 days, revisions can be measured by comparing the first and second transmission of JVS for a given quarter. Normally, the euro area and the EU, revisions in the job vacancy rate does exceed 0.1 percentage points.
18.1. Source data
EU job vacancy statistics are compiled on the basis of data provided by the participating countries. All countries, except Czechia, Luxembourg and Croatia conduct a survey to estimate the number of job vacancies. Czechia, Luxembourg and Croatia use administative sources. Data on occupied posts are generally obtained from the same survey as job vacancies. The detailed information is provided in the countries' quality reports.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Quarterly.
18.3. Data collection
Surveys conducted mainly by using postal questionnaires or Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). Other methods are Telephone data entry, by post, internet, email or fax. Details can be found in the country quality reports. Administative sources are also used.
JVS have been transmitted by all Member States using the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) data structure and internationally agreed code lists (available online through a dedicated registry). The same coding was used in Eurostat’s JVS database and to transmit the EU’s JVS to the European Central Bank.
This standardisation avoids ambiguities and misunderstandings with Member States and simplifies the data validation process, making it suited for automation. This was done by using a new tool for IT validation, described in section 18.4 below.
18.4. Data validation
Data communicated by individual countries are checked for internal consistency and correlation with earlier data. No further adjustments are made.
IT validation: To check the structure and coding of JVS, a new IT tool (STRUVAL) has been introduced to simplify the production process and reduce the risk of errors arising from wrong coding. When the file transmitted is not in line with the SDMX standards in force, it is automatically rejected, and Member States receive a success / failure notification by email. They may access the IT validation report through a web service.
In each quarterly transmission, Eurostat makes plausibility checks by comparing data over time and across NACE Rev. 2 economic activities. In the event of significant quarter-on-quarter or year-on-year changes in the number of occupied posts or job vacancies, Eurostat asks Member States to confirm the data or retransmit a corrected data file. When large revisions or sudden changes were detected in any particular NACE section, they were systematically followed up with the countries concerned.
18.5. Data compilation
The national institutions responsible for compiling job vacancy statistics send aggregated national data to Eurostat for both occupied and vacant posts. These national data are then used to compile the job vacancy rate at the European Union and euro area levels. Job vacancy rates are derived from the number of job vacancies and the number of occupied posts provided by the countries.
For the flash estimates, data for the countries that did not transmit are imputed by extrapolating the previous quarter (Q-1) with the quarter-on-quarter change recorded in the previous year (Q-4/Q-5).
The EU-level results are based on all enterprises/local units and all economic activities for which national figures are available. To allow a comparability over time, the EU/EA job vacancy rates for 2009Q1 to 2009Q4 have been calculated by using the available NACE Rev. 2 data (B-S). For countries, that did not provide NACE Rev. 2 data for 2009, NACE Rev. 1.1 totals were used instead.
For some countries, information on specific economic activities or establishments is not transmitted. If national data are only available for a sub-category of all business units, e.g. with 10 or more employees, this sub-category is used in the computation of the job vacancy rate at the EU-level.
If, for a participating country, data for a quarter are missing, Eurostat might estimate them to calculate European totals. Estimates for the missing countries are not published.
18.6. Adjustment
Seasonal adjustment:
Under Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1062/2008, EU countries are also required to transmit seasonally adjusted (SA) data. It is mandatory to supply SA data on job vacancies and occupied posts at least for individual/aggregated NACE Rev. 2 sections B-E, F, G-I, J, K, L, M-N, O-Q, R-S. Eurostat uses the data supplied on SA job vacancies and occupied posts to calculate the SA job vacancy rates for each country as a ratio.
At the EU and euro area level, occupied posts and job vacancies are first aggregated across Member States and then seasonally adjusted (direct seasonal adjustment).
Eurostat publishes SA data for European aggregates in the database and in the Statistics Explained article on JVS, alongside not seasonally adjusted (NSA) data.
Eurostat has made improvements to the seasonal adjustment annex that the countries must include in their quality reports. This annex details in particular the seasonal adjustment models used, the outliers detected, the size of the adjustments and the volatility of the results.
Eurostat also publishes annual data which are calculated on the basis of quarterly data.
6 February 2025
A 'job vacancy' is defined as a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied, or about to become vacant:
for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned; and
which the employer intends to fill either immediately or within a specific period of time.
‘Active steps to find a suitable candidate’ include:
notifying the job vacancy to the public employment services,
contacting a private employment agency/head hunters,
advertising the vacancy in the media (for example internet, newspapers, magazines),
advertising the vacancy on a public notice board,
approaching, interviewing or selecting possible candidates/potential recruits directly,
approaching employees and/or personal contacts,
using internships.
'Specific period of time’ refers to the maximum time the vacancy is open and intended to be filled. That period shall be unlimited; all vacancies for which active steps are continuing on the reference date shall be reported.
An 'occupied post’ means a paid post within the organisation to which an employee has been assigned.
The job vacancy rate (JVR) is the number of job vacancies expresses as a percentage of the sum of the number of occupied posts and the number of job vacancies:
JVR = number of job vacancies / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies) x100.
The "job vacancy rate quarter on quarter change" is measured as the current quarter´s job vacancy rate minus the rate for the previous quarter. It is expressed in percentage points.
The "job vacancy rate year on year change" is measured as the current quarter´s job vacancy rate minus the rate for the same quarter in the previous year. It is expressed in percentage points.
The basic statistical unit for the data collection is the enterprise or local unit. However the majority of participating national statistical offices collect the vacancy data from enterprises. More information can be found in the quality reports of the countries.
In general, the data cover all enterprises with one or more employees. In France and Italy, public institutions are not fully covered in the sections ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ ‘Education’, and ‘Human health and social work activities’ (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q). In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to N) are surveyed.
The European Union, the euro area, EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the Republic of North Macedonia and Türkiye.
Data on job vacancies and occupied posts represent the stock of vacant and occupied posts at a given reference date or averaged across a given reference period. There is currently no internationally agreed rule for the time of recording of job vacancy statistics. Depending on countries, the time of recording for quarterly job vacancy statistics may be one specific day in the quarter (e.g. the 15th of the middle month, the last calendar or working day of the quarter) or a three month average. More information can be found in the quality reports of the countries.
As an indication of accuracy, the countries calculate the coefficients of variation in the number of job vacancies (not seasonally adjusted), taking into account the characteristics of their national sample design. The coefficient of variation expresses the standard error as a percentage of the quantity being estimated. It provides a measure of the variability of the estimated number of job vacancies. The sample size and response rate significantly affect the accuracy of estimates. The detailed information can be found in point 13.2.
Job vacancies and occupied posts measure number of posts. The job vacancy rate (JVR) measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant, according to the definition of job vacancy above, expressed as a percentage as follows:
JVR = [number of job vacancies / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies)] x 100.
The quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year changes are expressed in percentage points.
The national institutions responsible for compiling job vacancy statistics send aggregated national data to Eurostat for both occupied and vacant posts. These national data are then used to compile the job vacancy rate at the European Union and euro area levels. Job vacancy rates are derived from the number of job vacancies and the number of occupied posts provided by the countries.
For the flash estimates, data for the countries that did not transmit are imputed by extrapolating the previous quarter (Q-1) with the quarter-on-quarter change recorded in the previous year (Q-4/Q-5).
The EU-level results are based on all enterprises/local units and all economic activities for which national figures are available. To allow a comparability over time, the EU/EA job vacancy rates for 2009Q1 to 2009Q4 have been calculated by using the available NACE Rev. 2 data (B-S). For countries, that did not provide NACE Rev. 2 data for 2009, NACE Rev. 1.1 totals were used instead.
For some countries, information on specific economic activities or establishments is not transmitted. If national data are only available for a sub-category of all business units, e.g. with 10 or more employees, this sub-category is used in the computation of the job vacancy rate at the EU-level.
If, for a participating country, data for a quarter are missing, Eurostat might estimate them to calculate European totals. Estimates for the missing countries are not published.
EU job vacancy statistics are compiled on the basis of data provided by the participating countries. All countries, except Czechia, Luxembourg and Croatia conduct a survey to estimate the number of job vacancies. Czechia, Luxembourg and Croatia use administative sources. Data on occupied posts are generally obtained from the same survey as job vacancies. The detailed information is provided in the countries' quality reports.
Flash estimates: Member States whose number of employees represents more than 3 percent of the EU total transmit the aggregate number of vacancies and occupied posts within 45 days after the end of the reference quarter. Eurostat publish JVS flash for the EU around 5 days after the deadline for the data transmission.
Final release: Within 70 days after the end of the reference quarter, Member States transmit data broken down by economic activity. Eurostat publishes a news release around 7 days after the deadline for the data transmission.
Data are normally released around 50 and 78 days after the reference quarter (see point 9).
Data are, in general, comparable across the countries. The main issue concerns the reduced coverage for some countries.
Data are, in general, comparable over time. There are the following breaks in time series:
Portugal: Data before the first quarter of 2010 exclude data for the Autonomous Regions and data for public administration.
Spain: A new survey was introduced from 2013Q2. Until further notice, no data are available from 2013Q1. Before the first quarter of 2010 the number of vacancies and occupied posts for section "O - Public administration and defence; compulsory social security" have not been transmitted and were not included in aggregated groups (B-S, O-Q).
France: In the fourth quarter of 2010 there was a change in the questionnaire that collects information on job vacancies. This led to a sizeable increase to the number of vacancies compared to past observations. There were some significant revisions in the transmission of French 2018Q4 data back to 2015Q4. France explained that these were the result of an improvement in the Acemo survey’s coverage (Acemo: ‘Activité et conditions d’emploi de la main-d’oeuvre’), which had triggered a level shift in both occupied posts and vacancies, leaving the job vacancy rate broadly unchanged. Since May 2024, France has extended the scope of job offers to companies with fewer than 10 employees, using two surveys on labor activity and employment conditions (Acemo): the quarterly survey and the survey of very small businesses. It does result in an automatic and important increase in the number of vacancies. The bakward data was revised.
Germany: The survey results are corrected for non-responses starting with the fourth quarter of 2010.
Malta: The new methodology is implemented from Q1 2017. The backward data was revised in 2018.
Belgium: A new survey and new methodology were introduced from the first quarter of 2012.
Italy: Break in series after 2009Q4 due to changes in estimation method and survey.
Slovenia: New methodology from 2013Q1; a new survey was introduced from 2015Q1.
