Commenting on EU employment figures that show an 0.2% increase in employment in the 3rd quarter of 2016 compared to the 2nd quarter, and a 1.2% in the euro area and 1.1% increase in the EU28 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2015, Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said
“Any increase in employment is better than no increase, but job growth is painfully slow. The tiny overall increase in employment disguises the fact too many jobs are part-time or temporary, especially in Spain and Portugal where employment grew a bit more than elsewhere, and that employment actually went down in Italy, all the Baltic states and Bulgaria.”
“It is a sad fact that a job does not guarantee a decent standard of living. A shocking one third of workers have difficulty making ends meet, and half of all workers in the EU are on contracts of limited duration.”
In Spain and Portugal, which had the ‘highest’ increase in employment (up a not-so-impressive 1.3 and 0.8% compared to the previous quarter), 40% and 23% of all jobs are part-time (2015 figures).
See also https://www.etuc.org/press/more-1-3-workers-have-difficulty-making-ends-meet
