16/09/2016 (Agence Europe) – The job vacancy rate stood at 1.7% in the eurozone in the second quarter of 2016, which was unchanged from the previous quarter, but up on the second quarter of 2015, when it stood at 1.5%, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, on Friday 16 September. The job vacancy rate in the EU was 1.8% in the second quarter of 2016, stable compared to the previous quarter, but up on the second quarter of 2015, when it stood at 1.7%. The member states with the highest job vacancy rates were the Czech Republic (2.9%), Belgium (2.8%), the United Kingdom (2.5%), Germany (2.4%) and Sweden (2.3%) and lowest in Portugal (0.7%), Greece (0.8% in the first quarter), Spain and Poland (0.8%) and Bulgaria and Ireland (0.9%). (EL)