15/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - Employment is down by 0.1% in EU. The number of persons employed in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU27 decreased by 0.1% in the third quarter of 2011 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat on Thursday 15 December. In the second quarter of 2011, employment increased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU27. These figures are seasonally adjusted. The largest falls in employment were recorded in real estate activities (-1.2% in the euro area and -0.8% in the EU27) and construction (-1.2% and -0.4% respectively), while the only rises were registered in administration and other public services (+0.1% in both zones) and industry (+0.1% in the euro area and 0.0% in the EU27). Eurostat estimates that, in the third quarter of 2011, 222.9 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 146.9 million were in the euro area. (LC/transl.jl)