Between the third quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2019, the last quarter before COVID-19 containment measures began to be widely introduced by Member States, 2.8 million people in the EU (21.4% of all unemployed in the third quarter of 2019) found a job. During this period, 7.2 million (55.4%) remained unemployed and a further 3.0 million (23.2%) became economically inactive.
Of all those initially in employment in the third quarter of 2019, 2.1 million (1.3%) became unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2019, and 3.5 million (2.3%) transitioned into economic inactivity.
From those initially counted as economically inactive in the third quarter of 2019, 3.4 million (3.4%) moved into employment in the fourth quarter of 2019, and 3.3 million (3.3%) transitioned into unemployment.
The graphic and table below give an overview of all possible transitions and show the changes in labour market status. In the graphic, 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.
Note:
- These figures are based on seasonally adjusted data. They do not include data for Germany.
- The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
For more information:
- Source data on quarterly labour market flows (including Member States' data) in Eurostat table lfsi_long_q.
- Metadata on labour market transitions
- Eurostat Statistics Explained article on labour market flow statistics in the EU.
To contact us, please visit our User Support page.
For press queries, please contact our Media Support.