Eurostat: Greek employment grew by 1.2 pct in the second quarter of 2015

Employment growth in Eurozone accelerated marginally for the second straight quarter in the three months ended June, figures from Eurostat showed Tuesday.

Employment rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in the second quarter, following a 0.2 percent climb in the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter last year, employment edged up 0.1 percent.

On an annual basis, employment growth held steady at 0.8 percent in the three-month period to June.

Greek employment grew by 1.2 pct in the second quarter of 2015, compared with the first quarter of the year, Eurostat said on Tuesday.

According to a latest report, Greece along with Portugal (+1.3%) recorded the highest percentage increase in employment in the April-June period, followed by Ireland and Spain (0.9% each) and Estonia (0.8%). Employment fell in Finland (-0.3%), the UK (-0.2%), Bulgaria and Lithuania (-0.1% each).

The number of employed people grew 0.3% in the Eurozone and 0.2% in the EU-28 totaling 228.8 million men and women of which 151 million in the Eurozone in the second quarter of 2015, compared with the previous quarter. Employment rose 0.8% in the Eurozone and 0.9% in the EU compared with the second quarter of 2014.

In the EU 28, employment grew 0.2 percent from the previous quarter and 0.9 percent from the first quarter of 2014.

Among member countries, Portugal and Greece logged highest employment growth in the second quarter as compared to the preceding quarter, while biggest decreases were observed in Finland, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Lithuania.