In the third quarter of 2021, the job vacancy rate was 2.6% in the euro area, up from 2.3% in the previous quarter and 1.7% in the third quarter of 2020, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.4% in the third quarter of 2021, up from 2.2% in the previous quarter and 1.7% in the third quarter of 2020.
Compared with the third quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, the job vacancy rates have increased by 0.4 p.p. in the euro area and by 0.3 p.p. in the EU.
In the euro area, the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2021 was 2.4% in industry and construction and 2.9% in services. In the EU, the rate was 2.4% in industry and construction and 2.7% in services.
Among the Member States for which comparable data are available (see country notes), the highest job vacancy rates in the third quarter of 2021 were recorded in Czechia (5.1%), Belgium (4.7%) and the Netherlands (4.2%). By contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (0.7%) as well as in Bulgaria and Spain (both 0.8%). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate increased in twenty-five Member States and decreased in two. Decreases were recorded in Czechia (-0.2 pp) and Bulgaria (-0.1 pp). The largest increases were observed in the Netherlands (+1.7 pp), Denmark (+1.5 pp) and Belgium (+1.4 pp).
