The European Union\u2019s labour market remained resilient in 2024, with the employment rate reaching a record 75.8 per cent among people aged 20 to 64, according to Eurostat. The figure represented the highest level since the beginning of the EU time series in 2009.\n<\/p>\n
The OECD also reported that the EU unemployment rate fell to a record low of 5.7 per cent in February 2025, underlining the strength of the bloc\u2019s labour market.\n<\/p>\n
The Netherlands\u2019 strong performance is linked to a flexible labour market and widespread part-time employment, particularly among women.\n<\/p>\n
Malta has also emerged as one of the EU\u2019s strongest performers, supported by expanding services, tourism and foreign investment.<\/p>\n
Czechia\u2019s high employment rate reflects a strong manufacturing sector, low unemployment and its close integration with European supply chains.\n<\/p>\n
Germany continues to benefit from its industrial base, export economy and dual vocational education system, which helps young people move from training into employment.\n<\/p>\n
Denmark\u2019s flexible labour market, combined with strong social protection, has helped maintain high employment. The country\u2019s approach makes it easier for workers to move between jobs while retaining a strong social safety net.<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s labour market benefits from high participation among women, strong education systems and policies promoting gender equality. Innovation and technology also contribute to job creation.\n<\/p>\n
Austria combines a productive industrial economy with strong social protection and apprenticeship programmes, helping maintain solid employment and relatively low youth unemployment.\n<\/p>\n
Ireland has benefited from substantial foreign investment, particularly in technology and pharmaceuticals. Economic growth and a relatively young population have also supported employment.\n<\/p>\n
Poland has developed one of Eastern Europe\u2019s stronger labour markets, with manufacturing, services and economic reforms contributing to job creation.\n<\/p>\n
Slovakia\u2019s automotive industry and foreign investment have been major sources of employment, although many opportunities are concentrated around major urban and industrial centres.\n<\/p>\n
Slovenia\u2019s diversified economy and skilled workforce have helped sustain employment despite the country\u2019s small population.\n<\/p>\n
Portugal has continued its recovery from the financial crisis, with tourism, exports and technology companies supporting employment growth.<\/p>\n
Lithuania has benefited from economic growth, EU integration and investment in technology and infrastructure, while Latvia has seen employment supported by digital innovation and an expanding services sector. <\/p>\n
Estonia\u2019s digital-first economy and growing technology industry have helped it adapt to changing labour-market demands, while Hungary has benefited from economic growth, labour-market reforms and foreign investment in manufacturing.\n<\/p>\n
Finland combines strong education and social policies with an innovative economy. Increasing employment among young and older workers remains an important policy objective.\n<\/p>\n
France has maintained relatively steady employment despite structural challenges, with labour reforms and support for entrepreneurship aimed at encouraging greater workforce participation.\n<\/p>\n
Belgium\u2019s labour market remains strong in public services and other sectors but faces regional differences. High labour taxes and regulatory barriers can make further employment growth more difficult.\n<\/p>\n
Luxembourg\u2019s employment figures are influenced by its small population and large cross-border workforce. Financial services and public administration remain important sources of employment.\n<\/p>\n
Croatia continues to recover from earlier economic difficulties, with tourism playing a major role in job creation. Youth unemployment remains a challenge.<\/p>\n
Spain has made considerable progress since the eurozone crisis, but unemployment among young people and regional differences continue to weigh on its overall labour-market performance.\n<\/p>\n
Greece has also made progress following its prolonged economic crisis. Tourism remains a major employer, although unemployment and youth joblessness remain concerns.\n<\/p>\n
Italy continues to record one of the EU\u2019s lowest employment rates, particularly among young people. Structural reforms, greater participation by women and economic modernisation remain important to improving employment.\n<\/p>\n
Outside the EU, Norway and Switzerland also have strong labour markets. Norway combines high labour-force participation with a strong welfare system and a major energy sector, while Switzerland benefits from a highly skilled workforce, low unemployment and an innovation-driven economy.\n<\/p>\n
Turkey, meanwhile, remains at the lower end of the wider comparison. Its labour market continues to be affected by economic instability, informal employment and significant gender disparities.\n<\/p>\n
The overall picture is one of a European labour market that has remained remarkably strong despite economic uncertainty. The record employment rate and historically low unemployment show that more people are participating in work across the bloc, although the large differences between countries demonstrate that the benefits have not been distributed evenly.\n<\/p>\n
According to a ranking published on MSN, Microsoft\u2019s personalised content platform, and sighted by PUNCH Online on Wednesday, the countries were ranked as follows:<\/p>\n
Netherlands \u2014 82.3 per cent
Switzerland \u2014 80.4 per cent
Germany \u2014 77.6 per cent
Norway \u2014 77.0 per cent
Denmark \u2014 76.9 per cent
Sweden \u2014 76.2 per cent
Czech Republic \u2014 75.6 per cent
Hungary \u2014 75.1 per cent
Estonia \u2014 75.1 per cent
United Kingdom \u2014 75.0 per cent
Ireland \u2014 74.2 per cent
Austria \u2014 74.1 per cent
Lithuania \u2014 73.8 per cent
Portugal \u2014 73.0 per cent
Slovenia \u2014 72.8 per cent
Slovakia \u2014 72.8 per cent
Poland \u2014 72.7 per cent
Finland \u2014 71.8 per cent
Bulgaria \u2014 70.9 per cent
Latvia \u2014 70.4 per cent\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Union\u2019s labour market remained resilient in 2024, with the employment rate reaching a record 75.8 per…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24225,24226,24227,24228,24229,24230,24231,6,24232,2387,24233],"class_list":["post-37327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-netherlands","tag-economic-growth-eu","tag-employment-statistics","tag-eu-employment","tag-european-labour-market","tag-european-union-jobs","tag-eurostat","tag-job-creation-europe","tag-netherlands","tag-netherlands-employment","tag-oecd","tag-turkey-employment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}