13/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - The number of people with a job within the eurozone rose by 0.4% (533,000 people) in the first quarter of 2007, according to provisional estimates from Eurostat, based on national accounts. During the same period, the number of people with a job in the EU of 27 rose by 0.3% (612,000 people). In the fourth quarter of 2006, growth rates stood at +0.3% in the eurozone and at +0.2% in the EU of 27. Taken annually, employment increased by 1.4% in the eurozone and by 1.2% in the EU of 27 in the first quarter of 2007, compared to +1.5% and +1.4% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2006. Eurostat also states that in the first quarter of 2007, 220.4 million men and women were employed in the EU of 27, 141.6 million of whom in the eurozone. (ab)