Between the third and fourth quarters of 2016, 3.3 million people (18.4% of all unemployed in the third quarter of 2016) found a job, 11.3 million (62.5%) remained unemployed and a further 3.4 million (19.1%) became economically inactive. These figures do not include data for Belgium and Germany.
Of all those initially in employment in the third quarter of 2016, 2.7 million (1.5%) became unemployed in the fourth quarter, and 4.5 million (2.5%) transitioned into economic inactivity.
From those initially counted as economically inactive in the third quarter, 3.2 million (2.9%) moved into employment in the fourth quarter 2016, and 4.2 million (3.7%) transitioned into unemployment.
The graphic and table below give an overview of all possible transitions and show the changes in the labour market status. In the graph, the figures for employment, unemployment and inactivity refer to the number of people remaining in each status between the two quarters. The grey arrows indicate the direction of net flows.
Transitions in labour market status in the EU, Q3 2016-Q4 2016
(in millions; population aged 15-74) (in % of initial status; population aged 15-74)
For more information:
Source dataset on quarterly labour market flows (including Member States' data).
Metadata on labour market transitions.
Eurostat Statistics Explained article on labour market flow statistics in the EU.