15/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - In the fourth quarter of 2009, the number of persons employed in the euro area fell by 0.2% (347,000 persons) compared with the previous quarter, Eurostat says in a press release published n Monday 15 March. According to provisional estimates, the number of persons employed in the EU27 decreased by 0.3% (583,000 persons). In the third quarter of 2009, employment declined by 0.5% in both zones. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment fell by 2.0% in the euro area and by 2.1% in the EU27 in the fourth quarter of 2009. In the third quarter of 2009, employment decreased by 2.2% and 2.1% respectively. Over the whole of 2009, employment decreased by 1.8% (2,721,000 persons) in the euro area and also by 1.8% (4,021,000 persons) in the EU27, compared with +0.9% and +0.7% respectively in 2008. (A.B./transl.rt)