Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Tuesday announced that there was a slight improvement in overall employment in the EU during the first quarter of 2022, when compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

According to the Eurostat report, the employment rate among people aged 20 to 64 increased by 0.5 per cent, reaching 74.5 per cent in total.

Furthermore, most EU member states saw an increase in employment, with Cyprus recording an increase of 0.8 per cent, from 77.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 78 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.

In terms of slack in the labour market, meaning the proportion of people who need a job but are unable to find one, this stood at 11.9 per cent of the expanded workforce between 20-64 in the first quarter of 2022.

This reflects a decrease of 0.4 per cent when compared to the previous quarter, having previously stood at 12.3 per cent.

The highest increase in the employment rate among member states in the first quarter of 2022 was recorded in Greece (1.8 per cent ), followed by Luxembourg (1.1 per cent) and Latvia (1 per cent).

Finally, the employment rate fell only in three member states, these being Lithuania (-0.3 per cent), Denmark (-0.5 per cent) and Malta (-0.6 per cent).