In the fourth quarter of 2025, the employment rate of people aged 20-64 in the EU stood at 76.3%, up from 76.2% in the third quarter of 2025. 

Labour market slack – all persons who have an unmet need for employment, including unemployed people – stood at 11.0% of the extended labour force aged 20-64 in the fourth quarter of 2025, stable compared with the third quarter of 2025. 

This information comes from data on the labour market in the fourth quarter of 2025, published today by Eurostat. This article presents only a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

Labour market slack and employment rate in the EU, Q1 2013 to Q4 2025 (age group 20-64, seasonally adjusted data). Chart. See link to the full dataset below.

Source datasets: lfsi_emp_q and lfsi_sla_q

Between the third and the fourth quarter of 2025, Cyprus (+0.6 percentage points (pp)), as well as Austria, Latvia, Greece and Spain (+0.4 pp each) registered the highest increases in the employment rate among the 11 EU countries where employment rose. The employment rate remained stable in 5 EU countries and decreased in another 11 EU countries, with the biggest decreases recorded in Luxembourg (-1.1 pp), Denmark and Estonia (-0.6 pp each), as well as in Malta (-0.5 pp).

Change in employment rate, Q4 2025 compared with Q3 2025 (age group 20-64, in percentage points, seasonally adjusted data). Chart. See link to the full dataset below.

Source dataset: lfsi_emp_q