In 2021, the labour market slack in the EU, which comprises all people who have an unmet need for employment, amounted to 14.0% of the extended labour force among people aged 15–74 years. Less than half of this figure (6.7%) corresponded to unemployed people, while slightly more than half was composed of underemployed part-time workers (who want to work more), people who are available to work but are not looking for work, and people who are looking for work but are not immediately available to work.
Its regional distribution was relatively normal, insofar as 132 out of 242 regions (or 54.5%) reported shares below the EU average, with the remainder (45.5%) recording shares that were equal to or above the EU average. Nevertheless, there was a stark spatial divide: unmet demand for employment was a relatively high share of the extended labour force in several of the southern EU Member States, while labour market slack impacted a relatively low share of the extended labour force in most eastern EU Member States.
Source dataset: lfst_r_sla_ga
The highest shares of labour market slack, of at least 24.0% of the extended labour force, were concentrated in just four of the EU Member States: seven regions in each of Spain and Italy, six regions in Greece, as well as the five outermost regions of France (Mayotte; 2020 data). The lowest levels of labour market slack, less than 5.5% of the extended labour force, were mainly in eastern EU Member States and included the capital regions of Bulgaria, Czechia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia; there were also three regions in southern Germany that had low levels of labour market slack.
Large range of unmet demand for employment
In 2021, the share of the extended labour force with unmet demand for employment ranged from 3.1% in Bratislavský kraj (the capital region of Slovakia) to 41.4% in the island region of Sicilia in Italy (excluding older data for Mayotte in France).
In many eastern regions of the EU, it was relatively common to find that unemployment accounted for a high proportion of labour market slack; in other words, there were relatively few people who were underemployed, seeking work but not immediately available, or available to work but not seeking. This was particularly notable in the Romanian and Slovak capital regions of Bucureşti-Ilfov and Bratislavský kraj, where unemployment made up more than four-fifths of labour market slack. By contrast, all of the regions in the Netherlands were characterised by a high share of their labour market slack being accounted for by underemployed part-time workers or those who wish to work additional hours and are available to do so.
Would you like to know more about employment statistics in the EU?
- You can read more in the interactive publication Regions in Europe – 2022 interactive edition.
- You can also read more in the Eurostat regional yearbook - 2022 edition, also available as a set of Statistics Explained articles.
- The corresponding maps in the Statistical Atlas provide a full-screen interactive map experience.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on labour market slack
- Dedicated section on employment and unemployment
- Database on employment and unemployment
- Podcast on regional statistics
- Dedicated section on regions and cities
- Database on regional data
Methodological notes:
- Extended labour force: includes people a) in the labour force (unemployed and employed) and b) in the potential additional labour force (the two categories outside the labour force, in other words, those available to work but not seeking, and those seeking work but not available). The total unmet demand for employment (also known as labour market slack) is expressed as a percentage of this extended labour force.
- France: Mayotte (FRY5), Finland: Åland (FI20), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey: 2020 data.
- Germany: Trier (DEB2): 2019 data.
- Data not available for:
- Liechtenstein
- Albania
- Norway: Svalbard og Jan Mayen
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