Employment in the euro area continued to decrease in the final months of 2012, data released by statistical office Eurostat showed Thursday.
The number of persons in employment decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent sequentially to around 145.7 million in the fourth quarter, faster than the 0.1 percent drop recorded in the third quarter.
In the European Union (EU), payroll numbers declined 0.2 percent from the three months ended September, when they stayed unchanged. Year-on-year, employment in the EU dropped 0.4 percent.
Among member countries, Lithuania Portugal , Bulgaria, Spain and Cyprus recorded the biggest quarter-on-quarter falls in employment. Meanwhile, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary and Austria recorded the biggest increases.
On an annual basis, overall employment decreased 0.8 percent during the three-month period, after falling 0.6 percent in the third quarter. In the whole year 2012, employment declined 0.7 percent from the previous year, data showed.
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