13/01/2022 (Agence Europe) – The employment rate (for 20-64-year-olds) stood at 73.5% in the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 0.7 percentage points (pp) compared to the second quarter of 2021, according to recent figures published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, on Thursday 13 January. Unemployment rose to 12.9% of the labour force in the third quarter of 2021, compared with 13.7% in the second quarter of 2021 (-0.8 pp). There are considerable variations between the Member States. The largest increases were recorded in Greece (+1.8 pp), Cyprus (+1.6 pp), Ireland (+1.5 pp) and Lithuania and Austria (both +1.1 pp). While employment increased in 24 EU Member States, it remained stable in Bulgaria and Croatia and decreased in Finland (-0.2 pp). (PH)