Brussels, 13/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to provisional figures published on Friday 13 June, the number of persons employed in the euro area rose by 0.3% (446,000 persons) in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter. In the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 also grew by 0.3% (753,000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.3% in both zones. Compared with the first quarter of 2007, employment grew by 1.6% in both the euro area and the EU27 in the first quarter of 2008, after +1.8% in both zones in the fourth quarter of 2007. Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2008, 226 million men and women were employed in the EU27, 145.7 million of whom were in the euro area. All these figures are seasonally adjusted. (O.L/transl.rt)